Freshwater and Marine Sciences Graduate Program Handbook-Academic Policies
Enrollment Requirements
The Graduate School maintains the official academic and administrative policies relevant to graduate students. The Graduate School’s Academics page provides important information related to academic matters, policies and academic success. The following links have important information relevant to courses and enrollment that is important for you to be aware of:
- Enrollment Requirements
- Late Enrollment, Course Change, or Drop
- Other Types of Courses
- Cancel or Withdraw Enrollment
- Auditing Courses
- Graduate School policy on Auditing Courses may be found at https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/auditing-courses/
- Continuous Enrollment
- Graduate School policy on Continuous Enrollment may be found at https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/continuous-enrollment-requirement/
The Graduate School considers full-time enrollment for non-dissertators to be 8-15 graded credits taken at 300 or above, excluding pass/fail and audit, during the fall and spring semesters, and 4-12 credits during the summer term. Full time enrollment for dissertators is exactly 3 credits each term. If students elect not to enroll as full-time students as defined by the Graduate School, they are responsible for knowing about possible obligations that may require full-time status. Such obligations may include visa eligibility, fellowships, assistantships, financial aid, external funding agencies, and program satisfactory progress requirements.
Transfer of Graduate Work from Other Institutions
MS Students
For those students with MS degree coursework from another institution, the committee may choose to count up to 14 credits of coursework from another institution. Typically, committees will choose to cap graduate coursework from another institution at a lower level than 14 credits, but this is a committee decision to be made on a case by case basis. Coursework earned five or more years prior to admission to a master’s degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements. Note that these courses will not appear on a UW transcript. Major advisors must sign off on credits and inform the Graduate Program Manager that outside credits intend to be used so the Graduate Program Manager can notify the Graduate School. Before you can transfer credits first you must complete the 16 credit residence requirements and any other requirement. Our program does not accept transfer credits from an undergraduate degree for MS or PhD students.
PhD Students
With committee approval, students are allowed to count no more than 19 credits of graduate coursework from other institutions to complete their minimum PhD credit requirements. Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements. Typically, committees will choose to cap coursework from another institution at a lower level than 19 credits, but this is a committee decision to be made on a case by case basis. Note that these courses will not appear on a UW transcript. Major advisors must sign off on credits and inform the Graduate Program Manager that outside credits intend to be used so the Graduate Program Manager can notify the Graduate School. Before transferring credits you first must complete the 32 credit residence requirements and any other major or minor requirements.