Graduate Policies

It's important for you to understand your responsibilities as a UWRF graduate student. If you have any concerns about these requirements, please contact the Graduate Studies Office.

Admission on Probation

If your undergraduate grade point average was between 2.25 and 2.75, you may be admitted under probationary status. Probationary status is available if you have earned six or more graduate credits, with a grade of "B" or better, from an accredited graduate school outside of the University of Wisconsin System, and you meet all other admissions requirements. 

You will remain on probation until you have completed nine graduate credits at UW-River Falls with grades of "B" or better.

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Credits Applied to Plan

At least half of the credits required for your degree must be earned from courses at the 700 level.

No more than nine credits from courses at the 500 level may be applied to your degree requirements.

Transfer Credits

If allowed by your program, you may be able to transfer as many as nine credits from other institutions or from within our university. Credits must meet the following conditions:

• Earned a grade of "B" or higher;
• Be from a nationally accredited institution and an acceptable graduate program;
• Be listed on an official transcript received by the UWRF Registrar's Office;
• Approved by your adviser and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
• Received less than seven years from the date of completion for your UWRF degree.
• Credits earned at UWRF toward a prior degree are treated like transfer credits.

Seven-Year Time Limit

All requirements for your degree must be completed within seven years from the start of your first term. See Appeals Process to request a one-time extension.

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Course Load Rules

Full-time students may not exceed 15 credits per term during the fall or spring, nor nine credits during the summer, unless they have written approval from their adviser. To be granted this exception, you must have successfully completed 16 graduate credits and you may not be on academic probation at the time. You may only be granted this exception once during your program.

You can take less than four credits per term; however, you should be aware that this may affect your financial aid eligibility. 

If you take undergraduate courses, each three undergraduate credits will count as two graduate credits in calculating your load.

Graduate students who are working as graduate assistants must be currently enrolled in a graduate course or admitted to a graduate program and enrolled in a course (graduate or undergraduate).

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Grading Standards

You must earn at least a "B" (3.0/4.0) average overall and among your required courses. If you do not maintain a "B" average, you will be placed on probation for the next term. See the definition of Grading System.

Probationary Requirements 

If you are placed on probation, you must  earn a "B" average in the next enrollment period for full-time students and in the next 12 credits for part-time students. Once you have met this criteria, you will be removed from probation. If you do not succeed in doing so, you will not be allowed to register for additional classes. See Academic Suspension.

A course in which you received a grade of "F" may be repeated once and the second grade will replace the first one. See Grading Disputes. 

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Provisional Enrollment

A UWRF senior may enroll in graduate courses while completing an undergraduate degree if the following conditions are met:

• The student must be a senior in their final term who doesn't require full-time enrollment to complete an undergraduate degree.
  
• Students in the Communicative Disorder major must receive departmental approval.
  
• A student may take graduate classes in the term preceding student teaching if this is their remaining degree requirement.

While under provisional enrollment, an undergraduate my take no more than nine graduate credits nor more than 15 credits total during the term.

To apply for provisional enrollment, complete the UWRF graduate application and pay the admission fee. Go to Online Application.

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Re-entry Requirement

You will remain in active status up to two years after your last enrolled course. After two years, if you wish to take courses again at UWRF, you will need to re-enter by completing a re-entry form through the Registrar's Office.

See Re-entry Process.

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