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There are 3 types of transfer credit or waivers:

• Transfer credit from other universities

• Transfer Credit from UCSD Extension

• UCSD Undergraduate Course Waivers

Transfer Credit

Please view policy details here and below: https://grad.ucsd.edu/academics/policies-procedures/index.html#Transferring-Credit

• No more than one-half the total units required for a master's degree may be transferred.

• A student may petition to transfer courses completed while in graduate standing at another UC campus (including UC San Diego Extension XSDC courses) for up to one half the total master's degree unit requirement.

• A maximum of eight quarter units of work completed while in graduate standing at an institution other than UC may be transferred.

• Eligible course work may not have been used to fulfill the requirements of any other degree or certificate, and must have been completed with a B- or better grade and must have been taken prior to enrollment as a graduate student at UC San Diego. 

• A student must submit proof that the course work to be transferred was not used to satisfy requirements for any other degree or certificate program. Degree checks or a letter from the institution from which the courses are being transferred will be required stating the courses were not used toward another degree or certificate. 

• Official transcripts of transfer course work must accompany the petition OR be on file at GEPA. 

• Under no circumstances will transferred work be included in calculating a student's GPA nor will it appear by class on the transcript.

Approval for transfer credit from another university is rare, as most students do not meet all of the criteria listed in the policy. 

• Please make sure that the student meets all criteria before submitting request.

• Transfer credit is processed for use towards a master’s degree only. PhD programs are not course-based, therefore transfer credit is not applicable / processed. 

• Follow the steps listed in the PDF below.

UG Waivers

Please view policy details here: https://grad.ucsd.edu/academics/policies-procedures/index.html#Waiving-Course/Unit-Requirement

This policy applies only to master's degree students who completed their bachelor's degree at UC San Diego. 

• On the recommendation of the graduate program/department and with the approval of the graduate dean, UC San Diego undergraduates admitted to a master's program may request to waive units required for the master's degree.

• Up to one half of the quarter units of credit required for the master's degree may be waived on the basis of upper-division and graduate course work completed with a B- or better while an undergraduate at the San Diego campus.

• Waived course work will not be included in calculating a student's grade-point average.

• Approval of such a petition will be notated on the transcript as, "X Units of Credit Waived based upon UCSD Undergraduate Record."

Full documentation on the policy and procedures for transfer credit and UG waivers are available in the following PDF: 

No, they just need to be registered. However, to fulfill academic residency requirements, a minimum of 6 units is required for 3 quarters. 

Not always, it varies by program. In some programs, the advancement happens after the defense/comp exam.  Some programs have the students advance prior to the comp exam and continue their coursework. In all cases, the APPC should be submitted by the 3rd Friday of the quarter in which all degree requirements will be completed or in progress (finishing that quarter).

This will happen if the GPA is below 3.0 (3.0+ is needed to graduate) - please submit the APPC by the deadline and it will be held until the end of the quarter when all final grades are posted. If the GPA is 3.0+ by the end of the quarter, the APPC will be processed (and backdated to the 3rd Friday deadline). If the GPA is still below 3.0, the student will need to keep registering until the 3.0 is reached; the APPC will be held until that happens. The red "NO" for GPA is the only time we accept an APPC with a red "NO" - and hold it for later processing.

Yes. Some programs assign a vice chair/MS program director/associate dean/etc. to sign on behalf of the department chair. It would be the same person you would enter as the final signer on Final Report forms, for example.

Ken Keziah (from the Registrar’s office) offers one-on-one training, and there is also a general uAchieve training website and info on our  Collab page.

Yes, please submit an updated Plan II APPC via email; we do not send it to the Registrar because the student has already advanced in the system/records, but we keep it internally for GEPA records.

When submitting a master's degree APPC for a PhD student, always check to see if the student has already earned a master’s degree. (This is true whether it is a master's along the way or a terminating master's).  

Does the student have a previous MA or MS degree?

NO - Proceed with the APPC submission

YES -Submit a Duplicate Master’s Degree Approval Form, via DocuSign. Complete either section A or B 

• Section A: The student has a previous master's degree that is not from UCSD and the previous degree is in a fundamentally different discipline from the current UCSD discipline/degree. This form provides department approval for the second master's.  

• Section B: The student has a previous master’s degree from UCSD or the previous master's degree is in the same/similar discipline as the current discipline/degree. This form requests GEPA approval for the second master’s.

Senate policy:  https://senate.ucsd.edu/media/656855/gc-revision-to-the-policy-on-the-duplication-of-advanced-degrees.pdf