Requirements for Award of the Master's Degree

Petition to graduate: To apply for master's degree candidacy, the student must submit to the registrar, during the semester prior to the anticipated final semester of work, the petition for a degree with the Approved Program of Study.
Approved Program of Study (listed on Graduate Petition for Degree): The student's Approved Program of Study must show that course requirements for the master's degree will be satisfied before or during the final semester.
The Approved Program of Study must be successfully completed within a period of no more than six consecutive calendar years.
Course work at the 1000 or 2000 level may not be used for a Master's degree. Although in most cases, course work at the 3000-level may not be used for a Master's degree, individual programs may allow a reasonable number of 3000-level courses in special circumstances, such as in a program that requires language proficiency. Individual programs may include 4000-level coursework, but this must be reported to the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee as either part of the initial proposal or clearly stated when revising a program. These rules will be enforced at graduation.
The diploma of a candidate for a degree shall bear the date of the latest commencement ceremony for the term in which the degree is awarded.
All requirements for the degree must be completed and certified by the Registrar's Office no later than forty-eight hours after final grades for the term are due. If a candidate for a degree is not certified by the appropriate deadline, the degree will not be awarded. It is the responsibility of the student to reactivate the degree petition for the following semester.
The student must have an overall grade point average of at least 2.70 and satisfy all school academic requirements. Some schools may require a higher overall grade point average. If so, this must be reported to the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee through the initial proposal or as a curriculum change and will be considered an informational item on the agenda, not requiring a vote. These requirements will be enforced at graduation.
Some programs may have different grade or grade point average requirements for certain segments of the program requirements, such as the core classes. If this is the case, those requirements must be reported to the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee as part of the initial proposal or as part of a request for a curriculum change and will be enforced at graduation.
A grade of D is acceptable for course work to be considered completed, but individual programs may require grades of “C” or higher if they choose. The requirement of a C or higher in required courses must be reported to the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee either as part of the initial proposal or as part of a curriculum change and will be considered an informational item on the agenda, not requiring a vote. These requirements will be enforced at graduation.
The Institute allows three hours on a pass/fail basis. However, individual programs may not allow pass/fail grades at all, or may restrict them to only specific portions of the degree such as electives. These restrictions must be reported to the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee as part of the initial proposal or as part of a curriculum change and will be enforced at graduation.
The student must have completed satisfactorily any language requirement imposed by the major school.
The student must have passed any qualifying or comprehensive examinations required by the student's school.
The student must be registered for a minimum of 3 credit hours at all times, except that thesis students may enroll for one hour of MAJR 7000 in the semester of graduation. This reduction may be used only once. Students who have met all requirements for graduation before the last day of registration for the graduation term and who were registered the preceding semester may be eligible for a waiver of enrollment.
In addition, the student must have completed any required work outlined at the time of matriculation.

Additional Requirements for Master's Thesis Students

The student must submit the thesis topic and committee form to the Graduate Studies Office for approval and make satisfactory progress on the thesis.
The student must submit the thesis electronically to the Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation website at http://etd.gatech.edu and receive final acceptance from the Graduate Studies Office.

Language Requirement

The student's school may require a reading knowledge of one appropriate language.