Credit Requirements

All Master's degrees are fulfilled by traditional graduate students with a minimum of 30 credit hours earned beyond the bachelor's degree at Illinois Institute of Technology. Individual programs may vary; consult the Graduate Catalog for the minimum degree credit requirements by program.

Two additional master's completion options are applicable to qualified students: 1) graduate transfer credit of up to nine credit hours; or 2) accelerated master's admission after bachelor's degree completion at Illinois Tech.

With academic approval, a maximum of nine credit hours may be applied to a master's degree, subject to the graduate studies rules and restrictions published in the Transfer Credit section of the Graduate Catalog. In special cases, students may obtain course credit by completing a Credit by Proficiency Examination, subject to the approval of their respective advisers, academic unit heads, and Academic Affairs.

The doctoral degree is fulfilled with 72 credit hours or more earned beyond the bachelor's degree, of which at least 36 credit hours of academic coursework is required. Consult the Graduate Catalog for the minimum doctoral degree credit requirements by program. Research requirements are fulfilled with a minimum of 24 research (691) credit hours earned, and a maximum of 50% or 48 research (691) credit hours, whichever is lower, of the doctoral program credit requirement.

One year of full-time work devoted to research is required. In general, this requirement is fulfilled when the oral defense is passed. With academic approval, a master’s degree, up to 32 credit hours, may be transferred from an accredited institution or foreign institution meeting Illinois Institute of Technology requirements.