174 Graduate Credit Rule

Students receiving any university award (e.g. UGA stipend, GS tuition scholarship) and students who receive funds from the State of Ohio are governed by the requirements and limitations described in the following paragraphs. Any student who becomes ineligible to receive state subsidy is not eligible to receive general funds financial aid (i.e., a university stipend and/or tuition). Since this policy is due to regulations governing state support of the university, exceptions to the policy are not considered.

Graduate students who have attempted 174 graduate credit hours at the University of Cincinnati are not eligible for a university award for enrollment at or beyond the 174 hours. Hours attempted include hours for which credit has been awarded, as well as withdrawn courses, audited courses, and hours in progress or incomplete (these graduate credit hours include all courses with grades F, I, UW, SP, IP, UP, W, etc.). All graduate hours attempted at the University of Cincinnati, regardless of program or student status, count toward the 174 total. 

A student is not eligible for funding beginning with the semester in which said student will reach the 174 attempted hours. For example, if a student has earned 167 graduate credit hours at the University of Cincinnati by the close of summer sessions and registers for (i.e., attempts) 12 credit hours for fall semester, they are ineligible for a university graduate scholarship or fellowship in the fall semester.

If a student earned master’s credits at the University of Cincinnati (for either a partial or a full degree), the exact number of these credits are deducted from the 174 credit hour total for which they can receive funding. This is true if the credits are earned at an earlier time and the student returns to the University of Cincinnati to continue graduate education, and it is true regardless of the discipline in which those credits were earned. For example, if a student has earned a master’s degree in engineering and then chooses to pursue a master’s and a doctoral degree in math, the credits earned to get the engineering degree are deducted from the 174 credit hours for which the student can receive state financial support (e.g., fellowships, assistantships, and scholarships).

Graduate students who have earned a master’s degree or other equivalent or higher advanced degree at another institution are not eligible for a university scholarship or fellowship once they have attempted 140 graduate credit hours at the University of Cincinnati. If a student enters the University of Cincinnati with a master’s degree from any institution other than the University of Cincinnati, they are credited with 34 graduate credit hours toward the 174 credit hour limit for state funding eligibility. Per Ohio Department of Higher Education policy, Ohio can subsidize up to the remaining 140 credit hours. The 34 credit hours are deducted from the 174, regardless of the discipline and regardless of the graduate level at which the student enters the University of Cincinnati. For example, if a student has earned a master’s degree in engineering at The Ohio State University and then chooses to pursue a master’s and a doctoral degree in math at UC, the credits they earned to get their engineering degree are deducted from the 174 credit hours for which they can receive state financial support in the math program. Note that professional degrees, like a juris doctorate or medical doctorate, do not count as a master’s or higher equivalent for the purpose of comparative funding. Students who enter graduate education at the University of Cincinnati with a professional degree and no other advanced degrees are still eligible to receive up to the 174 credit hours of funding.

If a student enters the University of Cincinnati with only partial credit toward a degree from another institution, those credits are not deducted from the 174 total—even if the program they enter at the University of Cincinnati agrees to accept transfer of those credits toward the student’s degree requirements at the University of Cincinnati. The student can still receive state subsidy for up to 174 credit hours earned at the University of Cincinnati beyond those transferred in.

Note: For the purposes of this policy, a master’s degree is one awarded by an American institution or a degree of equivalent value from a foreign institution. Students holding a master’s degree from a foreign institution that is the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in the U.S. will have the higher limit (174). The higher limit will not be affected by a student’s completion of course work short of a master’s degree at another institution.