• Planning Your Course of Study
• Course Load
• Pass/No-Pass
• Leaving the Program
• Minimum Grade-Point Average

Planning Your Course of Study

Upon being accepted as a graduate student, you will be assigned a faculty adviser. Doctoral students are also assigned additional faculty members to make up a preliminary Ph.D. committee.

When you begin research work on a Ph.D. dissertation, or if you choose to do a master's project or thesis, you should change your adviser to the person who will supervise this process. Your adviser must be a full-time faculty member.

Your current adviser is defined to be the faculty member who has signed your most recent Quarterly Graduate Program Approval form. You may change advisers, but since the new adviser must agree to the change, and there are PSU regulations about advising duties (particularly for doctoral degrees), you must make sure that any change has been properly recorded and processed by the CS Office. When you apply for graduation, your current adviser must approve your program, and is not necessarily bound by the decisions of a different, earlier adviser. For this reason it is recommended that students discuss their study plans with advisers regularly.

Course Load

Full-time graduate students typically take 9 to 12 credits per term. If you register for more than 16 credits, you must obtain the approval of your adviser. Part-time students are defined as those taking fewer than 9 credits per term.

Teaching and research assistants are required to complete at least 9 graduate credits each quarter with a grade of B- or better, or a Pass; some of these can be CS 501 (Research) credits that will not count toward the credits required for a degree, and should normally be graded Pass/No-Pass.

Return to Top

Pass/No-Pass

Usually, other than specifically designated independent study or research classes, courses graded Pass/No-Pass cannot be used toward a graduate degree. Classes taken Pass/No-Pass at PSU (prior to admission) or other institutions may not be transferred for credit.

Leaving the Program

If you are unable to register for any coursework during a given term, it is your responsibility to inform the CS Department and the Office of Graduate Studies. For details, see the sections on Leave of Absence or Cancellation of Admission and Re-enrollment in the PSU Bulletin.

Minimum Grade-Point Average

Students in the graduate program must maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA and a 2.70 term GPA at all times. Any student who has a cumulative GPA below 3.00 at the end of a term (based on at least 9 credits), or a term GPA below 2.70 (based on at least 6 credits) will be put on academic probation. A student who has been placed on probation and subsequently violates these GPA limits will be terminated from the University.

Return to Top