The Indiana University Graduate School Bloomington requires that all IU graduate students fulfill certain residence requirements for graduate coursework—i.e., you must complete a certain amount of your coursework in residence on the IU Bloomington campus.
If you have completed graduate coursework at another institution, you may request through your department that the graduate credit earned at that institution be transferred in partial fulfillment of your degree requirements.
Fulfilling coursework residence requirements and transferring graduate credit
Questions about fulfilling coursework residence requirements or transferring graduate credit? Contact the College Graduate Office at collgrad@indiana.edu or 812-856-3687.
Residence requirements for graduate coursework
All candidates for graduate degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete some of their graduate credits on the IU Bloomington campus. If you are pursuing a master’s degree, you must spend at least one semester or two summer sessions in full-time coursework on the IU Bloomington campus. If you are a Ph.D. student, you must spend at least two consecutive semesters during one academic year enrolled in full-time coursework on the IU Bloomington campus.
Courses offered by other institutions through the Committee on Institutional Cooperation’s CourseShare and Traveling Scholar programs or by other programs may sometimes count as resident coursework. Contact the University Graduate School at grdschl@indiana.edu for more information.
You can learn more about residency requirements on the IU Graduate School Bloomington Bulletin website.
Transferring graduate credit from other institutions
With the approval of your department and the College Graduate Office, you may request that work taken for graduate credit at other institutions be transferred in partial fulfillment of degree requirements. Only courses with a grade of B or higher will be transferred. Courses must be taken within the prescribed time limits (five years prior to the awarding of the degree for master’s students or seven years prior to the passing of the qualifying examination for Ph.D. students).
The type of degree you are pursuing determines the amount of graduate credit that you can transfer from other institutions:
- M.A., M.S., and M.A.T. students: up to 8 hours
- M.A.T. students who are IU graduates: up to 12 hours
- M.F.A. students: up to 20 hours
- Ph.D. students: up to 30 hours
In general, courses taken to satisfy the requirements of a bachelor’s degree cannot be used to fulfill the requirements of a graduate degree. Moreover, courses taken to satisfy the requirements of one graduate degree cannot be used to satisfy the requirements of a second degree at the same level. However, your advisory committee may request that work toward a master’s degree also count toward the requirements for a Ph.D.
Students should contact their Director of Graduate Studies to discuss initiating a transfer of graduate credit.
You can learn more about transferring graduate credit on the IU Graduate School Bloomington Bulletin website.