Each graduate student enrolled under regular and provisional admission status is assigned an adviser who provides academic counseling, approve course scheduling, and supervises research.
Students must comply with the attendance policies for courses in which they are enrolled.
No more than one credit hour per week for any given course may be earned. For every week of class instruction a maximum of one credit hour may be earned.
A semester load of nine graduate hours constitutes full-time status; five hours constitutes part-time status. Graduate students may enroll in a maximum of 12 hours unless special permission is obtained by petition to the Dean of Graduate Studies. Enrolling in a combination of graduate and undergraduate classes may affect compliance with status, loan deferment, and health insurance policies.
A maximum of six semester hours may be taken as independent study within the graduate degree.
Students attending on-campus classes are required to submit a completed Health Information form available at the University Health Center or online at southern.edu/universityhealth. Registration is not complete until this form is submitted.
Graduate programs are available online from the School of Business, the School of Education and Psychology, and the School of Nursing. Course offerings and their information are available at southern.edu/graduatestudies.
A graduate student, who does not attend Southern for at least one consecutive semester in their program, must apply for readmission. If a student has been accepted but has not started the program within one year, a new application is required. If a student has been admitted and has attended before taking a leave of absence, an application for readmittance must be initiated by either a reactivation form or a new application as indicated in the following table:
| School | Reactivation Form | Re-application |
| Business | < 5 years | ≥ 5 years |
| Computing | < 5 years | ≥ 5 years |
| Education & Counseling | < 2 years | ≥ 2 years * |
| Nursing | < 2 years * | ≥ 2 years * |
| Religion | < 4 years | ≥ 4 years |
| Social Work | < 7 years | ≥ 7 years |
An official transcript showing all coursework taken in the interim at other institutions is required. The student will be notified once a decision has been made.
* See School-specific policy for additional requirements
A student who wishes to change a program of study must submit a Request for Change of Graduate Program form, which is available online at southern.edu/records. The form requires the signature of the Dean of the School in which admission was previously granted. The student must be in good standing for a revision to be processed. Acceptance into a new degree program is contingent upon review and recommendation by that School. If the student is not accepted into the program requested, he/she remains in the former program. The results of each request for program change are communicated to the student by mail or email.
Students must register online or on campus no later than the beginning of the second week of class.
Students not meeting progression and graduation candidacy requirements may appeal to the Graduate Council for reinstatement to a program.
Up to two courses may be repeated for the purpose of improving the GPA. This does not apply to students under provisional admission status.
Courses may be taken online or on campus toward a second emphasis within a degree program; transfer credit does not apply. The second emphasis consists of a minimum of 10 additional hours that do not overlap the first emphasis.