Compliance Certification Report

2.7.1

The institution offers one or more degree programs based on at least 60 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the associate level; at least 120 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the baccalaureate level; or at least 30 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the post-baccalaureate, graduate, or professional level. If an institution uses a unit other than semester credit hours, it provides an explanation for the equivalency. The institution also provides a justification for all degrees that include fewer than the required number of semester credit hours or its equivalent unit. (Program Length)

Narrative:

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) does not offer associate degrees or lower division courses for undergraduates. As of the Spring Semester 2006, UTMB offers three baccalaureates, 14 master's, 10 doctoral degree programs, and the professional degree, Doctor of Medicine (1).

All three baccalaureate programs at UTMB – Nursing in the School of Nursing (SON) and Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Respiratory Care in the School of Allied Health Sciences (SAHS) – have prerequisites for admission that meet all core curriculum requirements set forth by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) (2) and the Texas Education Code (3). Since students cannot graduate with baccalaureate degrees from UTMB unless they have satisfied these core curriculum requirements, they are required to complete these courses at a regionally accredited institution and transfer them into UTMB. Basic core curriculum requirements are posted on the UTMB General Information Catalog (4). Total lower division course and semester hour requirements for each baccalaureate program are outlined in the respective school's bulletin or on program websites (5) (6) (7). All UTMB undergraduate degree programs exceed 120 total semester credit hours (See Table 2.7.1a below).

At the master’s degree level, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) requires a minimum of 36 semester credit hours (8). The master’s programs in the School of Nursing (SON) require a minimum of 39 semester credit hours (9). The master’s degree programs in Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant Studies in the School of Allied Health Sciences (SAHS) are designated degrees which require from 85 to 110 semester credit hours (10) (11) (12).

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences has a general policy that no graduate degree (M.S., M.A., M.M.S., M.P.H., or Ph.D) can be earned with less than 30 credit hours of graduate instruction. The master’s degrees require at least 36 credit hours and the Ph.D. typically requires substantially more credit hours than the master’s, as evidenced by the average time to degree for a student continuously enrolled in a GSBS Ph.D. program is 5.5 years (13). The School of Medicine (SOM) does not award credit based on semester credit hour for the professional Doctor of Medicine degree. The SOM program is a full-time four year program that meets national standards and that far exceeds the 30 semester credit hour minimum requirement (14).

Table 2.7.1a Program Length by Semester Credit Hour (SCH)

Baccalaureate Degree Programs 120 SCH*	Graduate/Professional Degree Programs 30+ SCH Beyond Undergrad	Justification for Programs Using Other than SCH
Nursing, SON 120 SCH
Clinical Laboratory Sciences, SAHS, 136 SCH
Respiratory Care, SAHS, 150 SCH
	Master’s, SON, 39 SCH
	Master’s, Occupational Therapy, SAHS, 82 SCH
	Master’s Physical Therapy, SAHS, 85 SCH
	Master’s, Physician Assistant Studies, 110 SCH
	Master’s of Science, GSBS, 36 SCH
	PhD, GSBS, minimum of 30 SCH
	MD, SOM, does not use SCH	Four year full-time program following an innovative curriculum that meets national standards

* UTMB does not offer lower division courses. All entering students must have successfully completed the Texas 42-semester hour core curriculum plus at least 18 hours of undergraduate program prerequisites.