This policy is to guide CCS Graduate students seeking to change programs at the graduate level. Graduate students wishing to transition into an undergraduate degree should seek further guidance from the Admissions team and their Academic Advisor.
This policy refers to procedures for changing graduate degree subject disciplines, changing modes of study, and changing from one Graduate degree type to another (i.e. MA to MFA; MFA to MA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
International Students are reminded that US federal law does not allow graduate students to change their program of study or degree type from what is reflected in their SEVIS record and on their I-20 Form. Please contact the Global Engagement Office with questions. global@ccsdetroit.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A student seeking to change from one of the above listed programs to another must do so by the first day of week 2 of the first semester, and must have been accepted by the receiving program chair. Graduate students can transfer into MA \/ MFA Interdisciplinary Design Studies at any time, with approval of Chairs and the Dean of Graduate Studies. A student seeking to transfer out of this program must do so by the first day of week 2 of the first semester, and must have been accepted by the receiving program chair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The above does not apply to students completing an accelerated (5-year) Bachelor of Fine Arts + Master of Fine Arts degrees at CCS. See the Accelerated Degree policy for more information. MA degrees in User Experience Design and Color and Materials Design are offered in part-time format only. US law prohibits International Students from enrolling in any part-time degree program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eligible students in eligible programs may request to change from full time to part time enrollment (or vice versa) through their Program Chair and Academic Advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The MPS in User Experience Design (Online) is structured and sequenced differently to the in-person MA and MFA degree. Transferring between the MPS and the MFA\/MA programs is not possible. International students who wish to enroll must reside and study from outside of the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An eligible student may transfer from the MA to the two-year MFA of the same program at any time during the first semester, with the approval of the program chair. Students transferring in the second semester will be required to complete specific courses for the MFA before starting their second year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An eligible student may transfer from the two-year MFA to the MA version of the same program at any time during the first semester. Students enrolled on the MFA may not transfer to the MA after the first day of week 2 of the Winter semester. A two-year MA and three-year MFA is offered in Transportation Design, providing a preliminary year of skills development. Students taking either the one-year MA or the two- and three-year MFA may change to the two-year MA under advice and guidance at any juncture deemed appropriate by the Department Chair. Students on the two-year MA may advance to the final year of the MFA, having met prerequisites with the agreement of the department chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students on the two-year MA may not change to the one year MA. Students on the three-year MFA may not change to the two-year MFA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students attending on a Student Visa may not be eligible to change programs and should inquire about their eligibility with the Primary Designated School Official in the Global Engagement office and their Academic Advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students enrolled in an accelerated (5-year) Bachelor of Fine Arts + Master of Fine Arts degree at CCS may not transfer to the MA version of the same program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduate Student Readmission Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduate Credit Transfer Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This policy is to guide CCS Graduate students seeking to change programs at the graduate level. Graduate students wishing to transition into an undergraduate … Continue reading “Change of Graduate Program”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[292],"tags":[],"audience":[113,114,115],"compliance":[],"division":[182],"document-type":[193],"department":[128,140],"class_list":["post-2703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-policies-procedures","audience-faculty","audience-staff","audience-student","division-academic-affairs","document-type-policy","department-academic-affairs","department-graduate-studies"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Nadine Ashton","author_link":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/author\/nashton\/"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Academic Policies and Procedures<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academic Policies and Procedures<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 week ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 8, 2023","modified":"Updated on September 2, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 8, 2023 4:50 pm","modified":"Updated on September 2, 2026 3:53 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-17 06:02:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2703"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3415,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703\/revisions\/3415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"compliance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/compliance?post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/division?post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"document-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-type?post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=2703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Changing Graduate Degree Subject Discipline<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Those seeking to change programs after this date, will be required to restart the program in the following academic year. Students cannot switch programs midway through the academic year. All in-person graduate degrees start in the Fall Semester. Students are unable to commence their studies in the Winter Semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMA \/ MFA Interdisciplinary Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Note: A student who is in the process of completing a CCS graduate degree and wishes to immediately start another in a different discipline, must apply through Graduate Admissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFull-Time and Part-Time Graduate Study<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Changing Graduate Degree Program (MA and MFA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
MA to MFA <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
MFA to MA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Graduation from the MA or MFA graduate design degrees requires the completion of a capstone<\/em> project course(s). Capstone project courses cannot be replaced with other classes, including internships.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTwo-year MA to three-year MFA in Transportation Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Accelerated BFA\/MFA (5 years)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Related Policies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n