Non-matriculated students are those who have not yet been formally admitted to a degree program. They are usually students who are new to a graduate program and who have not yet decided officially to pursue an advanced degree. The non-matriculated status allows a new student to become familiar with the university—the faculty, the other students and the curriculum—before deciding to pursue a degree.

You can take a maximum of nine (9) semester hours of courses for credit without officially enrolling in the MSEd program (i.e., when you are a non-matriculated student). If you try to register for any further courses (i.e., either a fourth course or your tenth graduate credit) as a non-matriculated student, your registration will be blocked. For this reason, it is important that you begin the matriculation process while taking your third course, as this will ensure that you are not blocked from taking a (fourth, fifth, etc.) course that you are hoping to enroll in.

Normally, courses taken prior to matriculation can generally be counted towards your degree if they have been taken within the previous three years.

Advantages to Matriculating Later

There are several advantages to matriculating later—after taking one, two or three Temple graduate courses. First, you will have had a chance to get to know the curriculum, the faculty, and the other graduate students before you commit yourself to the degree program. You will be able to make a more informed decision about matriculation.

Second, if your undergraduate grades were below a B average, non-matriculated status allows you to establish a stronger academic record before you file for admission. In addition, your TUJ professors will be able to write recommendation letters on your behalf to the TUJ Graduate College of Education Program Office.

Finally, if you plan to take more than three years to complete your master's degree, there is an advantage to delaying matriculation: the university considers your date of matriculation to be the official beginning of your tenure in the program, rather than the date of your first course. This gives you more time to complete the requirements for the degree.