A matriculant is a student who has been officially admitted as a candidate for a particular degree; graduate students are admitted to a specific program. Each matriculant's program is governed by the catalog in force at the time that the student was admitted as a matriculant to the program. Any modifications to that program must be approved in writing by the applicable School Dean. Students have seven (7) years from the time of admission to degree status to complete any of the master's degree programs, except the Master of Arts in Teaching program (MAT) which is normally completed in 15 months by full-time students and within three (3) years by part-time students.
Matriculating students lose matriculation if they do not complete at least one course each year, in any semester or term, including Winterim and Summer, unless a leave of absence has been granted to cover the period of non-attendance. While the University does not have a formal graduate leave of absence policy, limited admission graduate programs (e.g. PharmD., PA, OTD, Nursing, Art Therapy) typically have published policies and procedures regarding leave of absence requests associated with time to completion and programmatic accreditation requirements. Generally, a leave of absence may be requested from the applicable School Associate Dean or Program Director and may last no longer than one academic year. Approved leave of absence requests will be reported to the Registrar's Office and will be reflected on a student's transcript.
NDMU's Leave of Absence policy does not meet guidelines established by the US Department of Education and is therefore not officially recognized by the Office of Financial Aid. Students on leave maintain their matriculant status; therefore, they are not eligible to earn credit at another college during their leave from Notre Dame without advance approval.