Additional Links
Time Limit Extension
The Graduate School sets time limits for completing a degree:
- Advanced Graduate Certificate: three years.
- Master’s degree: three years full-time (five years part-time). Our program is full-time, so the three-year limit is the relevant one – see The MA Degree or The PhD Degree for how this fits into your own timeline.
- Doctoral degree: seven years after completing 24 graduate credits.
If more time is needed, discuss your situation with your advisor, then submit a Time Limit Extension Request with a clear justification – the Graduate Program Director reviews it together with your advisor. Submit by the deadline on the Graduate School Calendar; late submissions are not accepted.
Transfer Credit Request
The Graduate School allows up to 12 graduate credits to be transferred into a master’s program (6 into a certificate program), at the discretion of the Graduate Program Director; doctoral students may also transfer credits relevant to their program’s learning outcomes, subject to review by the appropriate program committee. See M.A. Degree Requirements for how this works in our MA program.
Eligible credits must come from an accredited graduate-degree-granting institution, carry a grade of B or higher, be no more than 5 years old at admission, not be cross-listed at the undergraduate level, and not already count toward another degree or certificate.
Submit an official transcript to the Graduate School, then the Transfer Credit Request form – it needs approval emails from both the evaluating Stony Brook faculty member and the Graduate Program Director, plus, if you already hold a degree from that institution, Registrar confirmation the credits weren’t used toward it. Deadlines follow the Graduate School Calendar; late submissions are not accepted.