Concurrent/Consecutive Master’s Degrees (“Double Degrees”)
The University permits a student to take two master’s degrees at the same time (or immediately following one another) with some overlap of courses. Only a handful of students have done this in the Department of SLS so far.
Concurrent Master’s Degrees. Students working for two master’s degrees concurrently may petition to double count no more than 20 percent of the total for either degree, provided that all the credits to be double counted are electives for both degrees, all the credits to be double counted were taken at the University of Hawai‘i, and both fields of study accept the credits common to both programs.
Consecutive Master’s Degrees. Students working on a consecutive master’s degree may petition to use credits from the previous master’s program to count up to a maximum of 20 percent of the total number of credits of the current degree, provided that all the credits are electives for both degrees, all were taken at the University of Hawai‘i, the credits offered do not exceed the seven-year time limitation, and the field of study accepts the credits common to both programs.
Because setting up a concurrent degree program is a time-consuming and complicated matter, and because the same number of credits (7 maximum) may be double counted when degrees are worked on consecutively, this Department discourages concurrent programs, and prefers that students consider the consecutive option.
Certificate programs
A number of programs on campus offer Graduate Certificates (e.g. Pacific Islands Studies, Public Administration), usually based on at least 15 credits of course work. There is no prohibition against double counting courses for both a certificate and a degree; however, any double counting must have the approval of both the degree program (SLS) and the certificate program if the student is working on both concurrently, with possible limits on the total numbers of credits that can be double-counted.
See the entry for the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Second Language Studies.
