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Graduate Degree Information

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Academic Credit

Credit/No Credit Grading

A graduate student may take courses at the 100/200/300/400 levels under the Credit/No Credit grading policy; however, no course in which a grade of "CR" has been assigned may be used to fulfill the requirements for a master's degree, except that the grade of "CR" may be permitted for master's theses or projects to a maximum of six units when the individual department has specifically designated Credit/No Credit grading for the thesis/project course in the department and for field work, practicum, and/or internship courses.

For graduate students, courses at the 300/400/500/600/700 levels require "B" level proficiency to merit award of the "CR" grade; at the 100/200 levels "C" level proficiency or better is required for award of the "CR" grade.

The option of Credit/No Credit grading for graduate students on 100/200/300/400-level courses is subject to specific regulations of the individual departments regarding their graduate students and regarding the authorization for this option intrinsic to the approved course. Otherwise, no limitation exists as to the number of courses taken under this policy.

Waiver of Course Requirement and Credit by Examination

No waiver of course requirements or credit by examination may be used to satisfy master's degree requirements. However, the following rules govern course waivers or credit by examination in satisfying prerequisites for admission to candidacy in any master's degree program.

Any candidate for a master's degree who believes that previous training has provided adequate preparation in a certain area may request a waiver from the department concerned.

A candidate may also apply for course credit by examination, but only for prerequisite courses and not to satisfy any of the requirements for the master's degree. Requests for such examinations must be made to the department concerned and approved by the department chair. Credit by examination is restricted to courses published in the current CSULB Catalog. Please see Credit by Examination in the General Regulations section of this catalog.

All course credit by examination will be recorded as CR (Credit) and will not be included in calculation of grade-point averages; such credit may not be used to remove a grade of "D" or "F" in a course already attempted, nor may course credit by examination be granted for any course which is a prerequisite to one for which credit has already been received.


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