Degree Candidacy is a status students receive after the successful completion of 12 credits at Buffalo State. By this time, all provisions that were stipulated at the time of admission must be removed, and students must be in good academic standing. (NOTE: Not all students have provisions placed on their record at the time of admission.) Students are automatically moved to candidacy unless provisions have not been removed or there are holds on the student record.

All graduate program completion requirements include:

1. Completion of at least 6 credit hours of graduate-level coursework at Buffalo State.
2. Completion of all required prerequisite courses.
3. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (B grade) in all graduate-level coursework. No grade lower than a C grade (2.0) is acceptable to meet degree requirements.
4. Removal of all deficiencies and incomplete (I) grades.
5. If requesting transfer credit, the transfer course(s) should be indicated in the note section of Degree Works and communicated to the Graduate Studies Office.  (For other policies effecting transfer credit, see the Transfer Credit section.)
6. A minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework at the 600- or 700-level is required in all degree programs.
7. A maximum of 6 credit hours of independent study (XXX 590) may be included in a degree program.
8. Coursework taken to fulfill degree requirements for one degree may not be applied to an equivalent degree.
9. A maximum of 6 credit hours of special topics (XXX 587/687) may be included in a master's degree program.
10. A maximum of 6 credit hours of workshops (XXX 594), conferences (XXX 596), and/or microcourses (XXX 598) may be included in a master's degree program.

Students should periodically check with advisers to review the anticipated completion dates.