Plan of Study M.F.A. Degrees

The Plan of Study will determine specific requirements for the degree as determined by the advisory committee, consistent with the specific program guidelines and Graduate School policy. These credits constitute the core of an M.F.A. graduate degree curriculum. The Plan of Study must be signed by the student and Graduate Program Director at the earliest practical time following the student’s admission to the Graduate School, but no later than the registration period during the second semester of enrollment. The plan must indicate the following:

• All courses the student is expected to complete as a minimum requirement, including courses required for the major, supporting courses, number of elective hours, and courses recommended for transfer.
• Courses required by the department but not counted toward the degree, including prerequisite courses.
• No more than six (6) semester hours of independent study.
• No more than six (6) semester hours of credit evaluated as C+ (2.3) and/or C (2.0) applied toward the minimum hours required for the degree.
• At least one half of the course work credited toward the degree must be in 600-level courses or above.
• Capstone Experience.

Capstone Requirement for M.F.A.

Each candidate for the M.F.A. should be required to present a final body of work or culminating performance demonstrating professional competence in the field. A written document or thesis that demonstrates a student’s ability to think critically and contextualize their work historically and/or theoretically and within the landscape of contemporary practices is a requirement of some programs, but the focus of the capstone experience should be creative or visual work.

Unless otherwise specified, M.F.A. students are subject to the academic policies associated with master’s degrees.