M.A. in Special Education
Waiver of Required Courses
The Education department will grant a waiver of a required course if the following conditions are met:
1. If the student has taken an equivalent graduate course at another college or university within the past five years and has passed the course with a grade of B or higher, a waiver of a required course may be granted. It is the student's responsibility to demonstrate that a course taken elsewhere is, in fact, equivalent to the required Assumption course (e.g., course description, syllabus). The request for the waiver and/or transfer should be submitted to the faculty advisor, who will formally submit the request to the Chairperson of the Education Department for consideration. If the student requests transfer of credits, written approval of the advisor, department chairperson and the Dean of the College is required. In some cases, departmental approval of the waiver or credit transfer may be dependent on the student's completion of additional reading or the submission of a paper or other materials to ensure competencies have been successfully met.
2. If for any other reason a student requests a waiver of a course or required program components, the student must document in writing the reasons for the request and present the request to the faculty advisor. The advisor will then take appropriate steps to submit the request to the appropriate faculty and Chairperson of the Education Department. In some cases, a waiver exam, oral or written, at the faculty member's discretion, may be requested by the faculty member primarily responsible for teaching the course for which the waiver is sought.
3. Undergraduate courses are not construed by the faculty of the Education Department as equivalent to graduate courses. In exceptional circumstances, if a student thinks that he or she has taken the equivalent of a graduate course, he or she may follow the appropriate procedure as outlined above.
4. The student who is successful in obtaining a waiver for one or more courses must still complete the required number of course credit hours in order to obtain the graduate degree.