Important Guidelines for Graduate Students

A checklist of things every graduate student must be aware of:

1. Every graduate student should buy a copy of the most recent Graduate and Professional Studies Catalog. Every graduate student should read the appropriate sections of the Catalog.
2. The Texas Coordinating Board of Higher Education and the Texas Legislature have determined that the doctoral degree can be completed with less that 100 hours at the doctoral level. This amounts to about 5 years as a full-time student (see 5). If you exceed 100 hours at the doctoral level you may be charged a premium tuition which is about 4 times in-state graduate tuition.
3. Talk with your Department Graduate Advisor about the specific requirements for your degree program. The thesis/dissertation/research advisor is not the same as the Department Graduate Advisor. Know the difference.
4. If you enroll in a Junior or Senior level course (3000- and 4000- level), talk with your Graduate Advisor to determine if you should take the course for graduate or undergraduate credit. If you decide to take the course for undergraduate credit you must file a mixed load petition prior to the 12th class day of the semester in which you take the course.
5. To remain in good standing and to be eligible for a tuition waiver, scholarship, research assistantship or teaching assistantship you must have at least a UH 3.00 cumulative grade point average in the courses you have on your UH graduate transcript. You must have a minimum 3.00 GPA to receive a masters or doctoral degree.
6. If you believe that a wrong grade was reported for a course that you took, you have until the end of the following long semester (fall or spring) in order to ask for a recalculation or reevaluation. The instructor must initiate a change of grade. Grade changes are not automatically approved.
7. If you accumulate 12 or more hours with grades of C+ or lower, you will be dropped from your graduate program and will be ineligible to earn a graduate degree at the University of Houston. With approval of a department, you may be allowed to enroll as a post baccalaureate (PB) student but any graduate level courses that you take in the future will not be transferred to a graduate degree or degree program.
8. To hold a tuition waiver, scholarship, research assistantship or teaching assistantship you must be enrolled in 9 approved semester hours in each fall or spring semester. Support for the full summer session requires enrollment in 6 semester hours.
9. At some stage you will be ready to prepare your thesis or dissertation. You should visit the Office of Academic Affairs in 220 Science Research (I) Building to receive a hard copy of the Guidelines. It is your responsibility to prepare your document in accordance with the guidelines. Failure to do so will simply add time to the graduation process.
10. You must be enrolled at UH in the semester in which you intend to graduate.