Special Graduate Student Admission

A special graduate student (non-degree-seeking) is admitted to UTSA for the purpose of enrolling in graduate and/or undergraduate courses in one or more colleges of the University without entering a degree program.

In order to be considered as a special graduate (non-degree-seeking) to a graduate program, an applicant must submit a graduate application along with a nonrefundable application fee and meet the following criteria:

  1. Earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited ­college or university in the United States or have proof of equivalent training at a foreign institution.
  2. A minimum grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) from an awarded master's or bachelor's degree. Departments may consider the grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in the last 60 semester credit hours.
  3. Program specific, an official GRE/GMAT score may be required. Please check program requirements.
  4. International applicants whose native language is not English must also submit English Proficiency Scores from one of the following agencies: Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Duolingo (DET). For more information on which countries qualify for a waiver of this requirement, please see the International Graduate Student Admission section.
  5. Meet additional admission criteria set forth by the graduate program of interest (see Graduate Catalog, Table of Contents).

Special graduate students are advised that:

  1. In order to be eligible to enroll in a  master’s-level course, students must meet the necessary prerequisites, space must be available, and students must obtain the approval of the course instructor. Students who wish to take a graduate course in a discipline other than that for which they have been authorized upon admission must obtain the approval of the authorized representative (as defined above) of the discipline offering the course.
  2. Students who wish to enroll in a undergraduate-level course must obtain prior approval by completing the Permission For Enrolling in Undergraduate Courses While a Graduate Student Form.  
  3. A maximum of 12 semester credit hours earned as a special graduate student may be applied toward a graduate degree, and then only when the student has been admitted as a graduate degree-seeking student and the credits earned for these courses have been evaluated and approved for this purpose by the appropriate Graduate Program Committee.
  4. When teacher certification is involved, approval of the director of the College of Education and Human Development Advising and Certification Center is required before the student enrolls to ensure that credit earned as a special graduate student can be applied to a graduate-level teacher certification program.
  5. To continue as a special graduate student in a subsequent semester, the student must meet the standards required to remain at UTSA as indicated in the section on Academic Standing.

Denial of Admission as a Special Graduate Student

An applicant who is denied admission as both a graduate degree-seeking student and a special graduate student may be eligible for admission as a special undergraduate student, if admission requirements for that classification have been met. The applicant will need to submit an undergraduate application to be considered (see “Special Undergraduate Student Admission”).

Students holding bachelor’s degrees who are admitted as special undergraduate students may enroll in undergraduate courses only. If they wish to take courses at the graduate level, they must obtain permission from the course instructor and the department chair on the form provided for this purpose. Students may not have active applications at the graduate and undergraduate levels for the same term and year.