• Prospective Students
• Current Students
  • Online Orientation for Accepted Students
  • Beginning Your Program
  • Continuous Enrollment
  • Successful Progression
  • Forms
  • Thesis and Dissertation
  • Degree Completion
  • Commencement
• Faculty/ Staff

Beginning Your Studies

Faculty Adviser
Program of Study
Transfer of Credit
Course Load 

Faculty Adviser

Your faculty adviser's name appears on your Student Center home page on e-campus. Prior to your initial registration, you should consult with your adviser to plan your program of study. Later, your adviser will be available to oversee subsequent changes in your program, guide you in meeting the specific requirements of your degree, and conduct your final examination.

Program of Study

You, together with your adviser, will design a program of study which will allow you to satisfy the requirements for the degree you seek. The published descriptions of degrees establish only the minimum requirements. It is the prerogative of each school or department to make changes in programs at any time prior to graduation. This is one reason that it is important for you to maintain close communication with your adviser. Your Program of Study will be kept by your adviser until the semester prior to your graduation. At least half of the credits in your final Program of Study must be in courses numbered 600 or above.

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Transfer Credit

If you wish to request transfer credit for courses taken before you started at JMU, you must submit an Approval of Transfer Credit form to your adviser during your first semester of enrollment. If you wish to take graduate courses at another institution while enrolled at JMU, you must obtain prior approval from your adviser, department head, and the Dean of The Graduate School (TGS).

It is the student's responsibility to request that an official transcript be sent to TGS upon completion of the course work. Ordinarily, permission is not granted to take a course elsewhere for transfer credit during the semester in which the degree is to be awarded. The Approval of Transfer Credit form is available from TGS located in Grace Street House.

A maximum of 9 hours of transfer credit (including credit for graduate courses taken at JMU prior to acceptance into the graduate program) may be considered for inclusion in your major Program of Study.

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Course Load

The classification of graduate students who have been accepted into degree-seeking programs is often considered in determining eligibility for different programs and services. The following guidelines are used to determine enrollment status:

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