Compliance Status

Louisiana State University and A&M College is in compliance with this principle.

Narrative

The manner in which the graduate or professional degree programs at Louisiana State University and A&M College (LSU) are designed necessitates that least one-third of credits toward the degree are earned through instruction offered by LSU. LSU

limits the amount of transfer credit from other schools or credit taken while classified as an LSU extension or non-matriculating student may be used in a master’s degree program, if approved by the department chair and the dean of the Graduate School to 12 hours.  Since the minimum requirement for a master’s degree is 30 semester hours of graduate work, 24 hours of which must be in course work and six hours in thesis research.  In programs not requiring a thesis, the minimum requirement is normally 36 semester hours. At least one-half of the minimum required credit in the student’s master’s program must be in courses at or above the 7000 level. Transfer work from other institutions may not be counted toward this requirement.  Only six hours applied toward a previous master’s degree may be applied toward a second master’s degree [1]. 

Thus, regardless of the type of master’s degree program that an LSU student is enrolled in, at least one-third of the credit hours must be taken at LSU.   

Additionally, “credit earned as an LSU extension or non-matriculating student or transferred from another regionally accredited institution must be for course work in which the student earned a minimum grade of ‘B.’” The transfer credit must have been taught by a professor whose credentials are comparable to those of graduate faculty at LSU and, in terms of time invested, be comparable to graduate courses at LSU. Further, transfer work must have been completed within five years of the time the student is eligible to petition. Once transfer credit is approved, it is valid as long as the master’s degree is completed within the five-year time limit or the transfer work is within five years of degree completion [1].

Transfer course grades or credits will not be reflected in the cumulative grade point average, nor will they be used to determine probationary status.  Transferred credit hours are summarized on the LSU transcript; however, a separate summary of credit hours is kept that reflect only LSU work.  For transfer work, individual courses are not listed; however the Graduate School does maintain a complete and official record of all course work completed at other institutions [1].

Although graduate work transferred from other institutions may be applied toward degree requirements, the grades earned will not be computed in the LSU graduate average nor will transfer work appear on the official transcript. Graduate course work taken at other campuses within the LSU System is not considered transfer credit, and any number of hours may be applied toward a degree if approved by the chair of the student’s department on this campus [1]. 

See also Comprehensive Standard 3.4.4 related to “Practices for Reviewing Credit.”

For doctoral programs, graduate course work taken at another institution with passing grades may be included in the departmental-level academic course plan and count towards the minimum course work required of doctoral students, if accepted by the department and the student’s advisory committee [2].  All doctoral programs require a minimum of “three years of full-time study, or 54 credit hours of course work,” and the number of hours earned at LSU towards this degree is usually well above the one-third minimum requirement.  The program of study for each doctoral student must be established and approved by departmental faculty within the first year of work at LSU.  Such plans are subject to Graduate School policy.  The Graduate Council policy requires that doctoral programs include a minimum of one-third of the credit towards the degree come from LSU.  The Graduate Council approves changes to these policies, and they are documented on the Graduate School Website and in the General Catalog.

Transfer Procedures for the School of Veterinary Medicine

Transfers into programs in the School of Veterinary Medicine are considered on a case-by-case basis, but availability is very limited [3]. Only students who are in good standing, have a GPA of at least 3.2, and are not on probation will be considered for transfer. Transfer into the most appropriate semester of the curriculum will be considered on the basis of how the curriculum of the school that the student is transferring from fits into the LSU curricular template. This determination is only made once all application material has been submitted.

The following documents are required:

1. Letter of intent requesting transfer and explaining reason for transfer; 
2. Copy of the school or college’s curriculum;
3. Letter from the dean of the school or college stating that student is not on probation and is in good standing;
4. Transcript of all veterinary course work completed;
5. Optional - GRE Score (highly desired);
6. Optional - One letter of recommendation will be accepted.

Cooperative Programs

Several of LSU’s graduate degree programs, including applied statistics, economics, education, oceanography and coastal sciences, physics, psychology, and systems science, have specific cooperation with other universities in Louisiana [4].  Courses taken outside of the LSU System are transfer hours and cannot exceed the stated limits.

An example of these cooperative programs is the Master of Science degree in Environmental Sciences, which is a cooperative, multidisciplinary program between LSU and Southern University [5]. This degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of course work and six hours of thesis research.  Four options are available: environmental toxicology and environmental planning and management, offered at LSU, and environmental biology and environmental chemistry, offered at SU. A graduate student at either institution may register for any of the four options. Four core courses are common to all options and must be taken by all students. Work taken at Southern University is recorded as transfer credit.

Dual Degree Programs

LSU and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center offer several dual degree programs, allowing a student to earn both the JD/CL and a master’s degree [5].  Students enrolling in the dual degree programs must be admitted separately to the LSU Graduate School and the Law Center. Students successfully completing one of the programs listed above will receive two degrees, a JD/CL awarded by LSU’s Hebert Law Center and a master’s degree awarded by LSU.  The dual degrees are JD/CL-MBA [6], JD/CL-MMC [7], JD/CL-MPA [8], and JD/CL-MS in Finance [9].  Since the student is enrolled in an LSU System university (Paul M. Hebert Law Center), there is no transfer credit involved—although more than 12 hours toward the master’s degree may be earned at the Law Center.