“Transfer of credit” means that the faculty permits graduate coursework already completed prior to enrollment in the degree program to be counted towards the degree, reducing the additional hours required for graduation. Students are urged not to assume that coursework already completed can be applied to a degree in the College of Public Health. All transfer credit requests are reviewed by the Graduate School for acceptability, so the recommendations made by the CPH are not final determinations.

Master’s students
Students who have completed a Master’s degree outside Ohio State
For students who have completed a master’s program from another university other than Ohio State, they are permitted to transfer credit hours for their previous degree as long as it was from a regionally accredited (i.e. Higher Learning Commission) institution. Students are reminded that the Graduate School rule regarding transfer credit requires students to complete 80% of the credit hours for their Master’s degree at Ohio State. For MPH and MS programs that require 45-48 credit hours, only 9 hours of transfer credit may apply towards the Ohio State degree. For the MHA degree that requires 60 hours, only 12 credit hours of transfer credit may apply. Students are still required to follow the transfer credit process outlined in Section 10.3 to officially transfer the credit.

Students who have completed a Master’s degree at Ohio State
For students who have earned graduate credit during a completed graduate degree at Ohio State (outside the College of Public Health), they may only transfer excess credits that were taken as part of the first graduate degree. In other words, students cannot “double count” requirements for two degrees at Ohio State.

Doctoral students:
For doctoral students with an earned Master’s degree from this university or another institution, they may request (with permission of their advisor and the GSC chair) to transfer in 30 credit hours of a Master’s degree to apply towards their PhD degree. Students should consult with their advisor, and follow the transfer of graduate credit process outlines in Appendix J.

For doctoral students requesting an excess of those 30 credit hours of master’s credit to apply to the doctoral degree, the credit must be in excess of the master’s degree requirements in a field in which the PhD is awarded, and it must be course work normally taken by doctoral students at that institution.