Reserving Courses for Graduate Degrees
Students in both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering may reserve courses toward a graduate degree. These courses are not calculated into your GPA and cannot be used to satisfy any undergraduate degree requirements, including:
- The minimum number of credits you need to graduate
- Major and minor requirements
- Foundation and distribution requirements
All course reservation forms should be submitted when you turn in your graduation packet. No form submissions or changes will be accepted after May 1. If you plan to use your reserved courses towards a Tufts graduate program, you will need to submit a request for transfer of credit for the courses to be approved to be used towards your graduate degree program. Students enrolling in a Tufts graduate program are allowed to transfer up to two reserved courses toward their graduate degree.
Reserve Courses: Liberal Arts or Engineering
GSAS and SOE Fifth-Year Master's Programs
There are several Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and School of Engineering master’s programs that offer a special track called “Fifth Year Master’s Program”. Some Fifth Year Master’s Programs permit counting up to two program eligible 100-level or above courses, with a minimum grade at or above a B-, towards both the bachelor’s and master’s programs. Eligibility varies, and courses must be approved by the graduate program faculty before they are counted for both the undergraduate degree and graduate degree programs.
Fifth-Year Master’s Program students are eligible to petition for a total maximum of four courses, two of which could be double counted for the undergraduate degree and master’s degree and two of which could be transferred in through reserved graduate courses or external transfer of credit. All courses are subject to faculty approval. The maximum number of courses that can be double counted for the bachelor’s and master’s degrees is two. The maximum number of courses that can be transferred from reserved courses taken at Tufts and from an external institution is two.
Fifth year master’s students must matriculate as a graduate student immediately following graduation with the bachelor’s degree, e.g., graduate in May and matriculate in August of the same year. A student must graduate with their bachelor’s degree from Tufts before they can matriculate as a graduate student in a Fifth Year Master’s Program.
Transfer of courses for all incoming students, including Tufts undergraduate students, must be approved by the department/program faculty through a transfer of credit request in SIS (see steps below for reserved courses) and adhere to the transfer of credit policies. For Tufts undergraduate students, approved courses taken as an undergraduate student at Tufts that meet all eligibility requirements, and have been reserved for graduate credit via the appropriate form below, will be posted on the graduate transcript.
- Log into SIS, navigate to “Classes” and click “Request Transfer of Credit.”
- Click “Add a New Transfer of Credit Request” and choose the Transfer of Credit Request link for your academic program.
- Search for the institution that you are looking to transfer the course from: Tufts University.
- Complete the course information, making sure that the course title and number match exactly what appears on your transcript. If available, provide a link to the course catalog entry or attach the syllabus.
- Select your academic department to seek approval. The academic department (advisor and DGS) will determine if the course content is acceptable for transfer and then Graduate Student Services will approve/process the request upon approval from the department.
- Enter the term in which you took course and any comments relevant to your request.
- Read and agree to the terms of the Transfer of Credit policies and procedures before submitting your request.
- Click “Create Transfer of Credit Request” to complete the process. An error message will appear if any fields are incomplete.
You will receive an email confirming your request and follow-up emails about the status of your request (such as approval or denial or the need for additional information). If you have any questions about the timeline for approval, check with the department that you have requested the approval from.
Once requests are submitted, they will be routed to the academic department for review.
International students: International students will receive a new Change of Education Level (COL) Form I-20 for the master’s degree.
Fifth-Year Master's Student Forms
Students enrolled in most Tufts Fifth-Year Master's programs or a BA-BS/MPH combined degree program are allowed to apply up to two courses toward both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, in addition to reserving courses for the graduate degree. Shared courses can be used to satisfy both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. The option to share courses will vary between programs and students are encouraged to reach out to the program’s department with questions.
Students in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering must complete the GSAS and SOE Fifth-Year Master's Course Distribution Form to submit their chosen shared courses for approval to the Director of Graduate Studies. Students in the BS/MS, BS/MA, and BA/MA programs must complete this form before the add deadline in the second semester of their graduate program.
Share Courses: BS/MS, BA/MA, or BS/MA
Students participating in the BA/MPH and BS/MPH should use the MPH Transcript Reconciliation form to submit their chosen shared or reserved courses. Students must submit the completed and signed Transcript Reconciliation form prior to completing their undergraduate degree in order to reserve courses for graduate study.