Residency requirements

Residence credit is defined as credit taken at PSU after formal admission to a graduate degree program. Residency requirements are intended to ensure that students work in close association with other graduate scholars in the intellectual environment of PSU.

In a master’s program, to meet the residency requirement a student must earn a minimum of two-thirds of the credits required for the degree after formal admission to a master’s degree program at PSU.

In a doctoral program, the residency requirement can be satisfied in one of the following ways:

• Three terms of full-time enrollment (minimum 9 graduate credits applicable to the degree program each term) during the first two years after admission to the program. This may include one or more summer terms.

• Six terms of part-time enrollment (minimum 1 graduate credit applicable to the degree program each term) during the first two years after admission to the program. This may include one or more summer terms.
• A doctoral student who was enrolled in the same major at PSU, and whose matriculation to the doctoral program immediately follows (within one calendar year) the master's degree program, may fulfill the residency requirement during the period in which the student was enrolled in the master's program.