Degree Requirements

Requirements for the PhD Degree

The PhD degree requires core graduate credits, a minimum of 24 course credits and 24 doctoral thesis credits. Students design their program with the guidance of their advisors.

Examinations

Students must pass one written preliminary examination and one preliminary oral examination before writing the dissertation.

The final oral examination for the PhD is a defense of the thesis. This must be done within five calendar years after passing the preliminary oral examination.

Requirements for the MS Degree

The MS Degree requires core graduate credits, a minimum of 24 course credits and 10 Master’s Thesis or Project credits.

Plan A
  • 10 Master’s Thesis credits
  • A final oral examination for degree completion. The basis of the oral exam is defense of the MS Degree Thesis.
Plan B
  • 10 Master’s Thesis credits
  • A final oral examination for degree completion. The basis of the oral exam is defense of two papers of publishable quality; one paper must include a research component in which there is analysis of data.