Graduate School Academic Regulations
Concurrent Degrees
The university offers a limited number of opportunities for students to formally pursue concurrent degrees. Concurrent work on two degrees or credentials requires approval from the Graduate School prior to initiation of work on each credential. The Graduate School maintains a list of approved concurrent degrees within the Graduate Catalog.
Concurrent degrees reflect a formal plan, agreed upon by two distinct programs and approved by the Graduate School, to allow a student to simultaneously work on two separate degrees. In such cases, students must still fulfill all degree requirements of both degrees. In instances where both degrees require a thesis, the student must complete two theses. Similarly, concurrent degrees requiring a thesis and a dissertation will require a distinct thesis and dissertation in fulfillment of the two degrees.
A maximum of 6 credit hours may be shared across the two degree programs. This limit does not apply to students who earn a master’s degree in a discipline en route to the doctoral degree in the same discipline (which can include secondary education with a specialization in the doctoral discipline). When a student earns a master’s degree en route to a doctoral degree in the same discipline, there must be at least 18 credit hours of graded seminar coursework unique to the doctoral degree.
Approved Concurrent Degrees
The following options reflect approved concurrent degrees. To see the requirements for each degree, consult the catalog pages for each of the degrees in the concurrent degrees option. • M.A. in Sociology / M.A. in Southern Studies