Policies Governing Graduate Courses
Graduate Courses
Courses with numbers from 500 to 599 may be open to both advanced undergraduate and graduate students and can be taken by graduate students for graduate credit. Those numbered 600 and above are primarily for graduate students.
Graduate Students Taking 500-Level Courses
Graduate students who wish to receive graduate credit for 500-level courses must complete additional requirements (such as additional written work or oral presentations) that are more stringent than those required of undergraduates. These additional requirements for graduate credit must be specified in the course syllabi. The student's completion of graduate requirements must be verified in writing by the instructor if graduate credit is requested after the course is completed.
Not all 500-level courses are available for graduate credit. The student is advised to consult his/her department for information on any particular 500-level course.
Undergraduates Taking Graduate Courses
Courses at the 500-level may be open to both advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Courses numbered at the 600-level and above are for graduate students only. Undergraduate students requesting to enroll in a 500-level course for graduate credit or in a 600-level course may do so only with special permission of the instructor in the course and the dean of the student's enrollment unit, be registered for at least one undergraduate course, have earned at least 60 credit hours of coursework at the undergraduate level, and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. A maximum of nine (9) credit hours of graduate coursework may be applied to the undergraduate degree. Such graduate level courses will satisfy requirements toward the undergraduate degree and therefore cannot be used for subsequent graduate credit.
In rare cases, undergraduate students at the University of Louisville who are within six (6) semester hours of completing the baccalaureate requirements and who are enrolled in a graduate course may obtain graduate credit at the University of Louisville. This can only occur if the course has not been used to satisfy part of the baccalaureate requirements, and if the chair of the department involved and the unit dean approve.
Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Option
Undergraduate students will follow the departmental process to apply for admission to the accelerated program before beginning their final 30 credits of the bachelor’s program. Only exceptional students who meet all admissions requirements will be eligible for admission to accelerated programs; those who are admitted will be allowed to enroll in graduate coursework in their final 30 hours of the undergraduate program. Students who meet the program guidelines for successful completion of the graduate coursework as an undergraduate may then apply for admission to the master’s program.
Students applying for admission to a 30-hour to 35-hour master’s program may take a maximum of nine (9) credit hours as an undergraduate which will count toward both the bachelor’s and the master’s degree; those applying to a 36-hour or more master’s program may take a maximum of twelve (12) credit hours that will count toward both the bachelor’s and the master’s degrees (the guiding principle is that no more than one-third of a student’s coursework may be double-counted for two different degrees at different levels).
Graduate credits taken while in a bachelor’s program must be transferred to the student's graduate record after the student has completed one semester as a graduate student.
See specific programs for further requirements for applying to an accelerated program.
Continuing Studies and Post-baccalaureate Students
Students enrolled through Continuing Studies are not eligible to enroll in graduate level courses.
Post-baccalaureate students who wish to take only graduate level courses should seek admission as a non-degree graduate student by applying through the Graduate School. Students who wish to transfer coursework to a graduate degree must take the coursework as a non-degree graduate student or be admitted to a graduate degree program at the time of the request.
