Student Admission

Graduate Education Vision & Values

Vision
To be a vibrant learning community where faculty, staff, and graduate students collaborate and engage in scholarly activities to improve professional practice, society, and the world.

Mission
Graduate Education at Franklin University provides a high quality, engaging, and applied learning experience preparing a diverse community of learners to achieve their goals, enrich their professions, and strengthen their communities.

Philosophy
Since 1993, Franklin University has been serving the needs of graduate students who are pursuing an advanced degree to grow as leaders in their organizations, professions, and communities.
The cornerstones of graduate education at Franklin University are:

  • Ensuring a high quality, engaging, and practice oriented educational experience.
  • Fostering a vibrant and collaborative learning community
  • Providing co-curricular opportunities for academic and professional growth
  • Responding to the need for leaders in the professions, community, and world.

Graduate Student Admission

The admission process reflects Franklin University’s efforts at clearly identifying the performance standards that can help predict student success in graduate level study. The selection criterion for Franklin’s graduate programs, as determined by faculty, emphasizes academic ability, contributory work experience, admission essay, and personal qualities and characteristics.

Requirements for admission to a masters degree include having earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution with at least a 2.75 GPA on a 4.0 scale* (No particular previous course of study is required to apply). The candidate’s work history, and other personal qualities and characteristics will be considered as well. Submission of official transcript from the educational institution where the bachelor’s degree was earned is required. A student classified as degree seeking will not be permitted to register for courses in their initial term of registration until unofficial domestic transcripts or official transcripts are received. Official transcripts must be received before registering for the second term. *Applicants to the Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner must have at least 3.00 GPA on a 4.0 scale.

Domestic applicants seeking enrollment into a Franklin University Masters Program who do not meet the minimum entrance requirements may be considered for conditional admission into a program. An applicant must have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution to be eligible for conditional admission. The applicable graduate faculty may grant conditional admission, if the candidate shows evidence of graduate potential after a comprehensive review of the candidates’s transcript(s), admission essay, resume/work experience, and references. Applicants who are conditionally admitted to a graduate program are required to achieve a final grade of B (3.0 GPA) or better in their first course at Franklin in order to remain in that program and as a University student.

If an applicant has earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution, but the GPA is below 2.75 (on a 4.0 scale), then an evaluation of the GMAT or GRE scores (varies by program) may be required. The candidate’s work history, references, and other personal qualities and characteristics will be considered as well.

Prospective doctorate students must meet the following requirements for acceptance into any doctorate program:

  • A completed master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
  • Master’s degree cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
  • If an applicant’s GPA is below 3.0, then the Graduate Management Admittance Test (GMAT) will be required.A combination of the GPA and GMAT score will be used to evaluate acceptance for admission. The GMAT must have been taken within the last five years

For applicants who are not U.S. citizens and for whom English is not their primary language, all graduate programs require a score of 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based) or 79 (Internet-based) or higher on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or ACCUPLACER ESL scores of 101 (Reading Comprehension) and 5 (WritePlacer). There is a listing on the Franklin University website that exempts students from English-speaking countries outside the United States http://www.franklin.edu/getting-started/international-students/international-requirements.

International Student Admission

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) defines an alien as “any personal not a citizen or national of the United States” (2015) and a nonimmigrant as “an alien who is admitted to the United States for a specific temporary period of time” (2015), including students, visitors, and temporary workers. Nonimmigrants within the United States and foreign nationals outside the United States who wish to apply for admission to Franklin University are considered international students and pursue admission through the Office of International Students and Programs. The Office of International Students and Programs can be contacted at 614.797.4700, toll-free 1.877.341.6300, or via email at: oisp@franklin.edu.

English Language Proficiency Requirements

Transfer Student Guidelines

Applicants from regionally accredited institutions of higher education (or institutions recognized as candidates for accreditation) may be granted transfer credit based on an evaluation by Franklin University of official transcripts, course descriptions, and syllabi (if available) sent directly to the University from all colleges previously attended. Normally, credit will be accepted for comparable graduate courses completed with a grade of “B” or higher (or the equivalent) and completed within the time frame established for the subject area in question. Upon approval of the Program Chair, up to twelve hours of transfer credit may be used in any masters program or up to twenty-four in any doctorate program. Transfer students must meet University residency requirements. Residency requirements equate to the total number of credit hours required for a specific program less the maximum of 12 masters or 24 doctorate credit hours that can be transferred in. For example, if the graduate program requires 30 credit hours less the 12 transfer credit hours, the Graduate residency requirements equal 18 graduate credit hours.

Graduate Non-Degree Seeking Students

Students who declare in writing that they are not candidates for a degree are designated as non-degree seeking students. The University encourages qualified persons to further their education in this manner.

Non-degree seeking students may enter the University to increase their knowledge in a specific area. College graduates enroll to develop their competence in a new field or to expand their education. Candidates who apply for graduate non-degree seeking status must meet all program admission requirements. Adequate preparation for specific courses may be demonstrated through the completion of prerequisite courses, verification for which is required through the Registrar or transcript. Waivers for course prerequisites must be approved by the Lead Faculty for the course. Students who are granted waivers of prerequisite requirements accept full responsibility for adequate preparation, and for their ability to perform the requirements of the course(s) in which they enroll.

A maximum of eight (8) credit hours may be taken as non-degree seeking status, with exceptions requiring Program Chair approval. Non-degree seeking students are not eligible for financial aid.