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Doctoral Qualification Exam Oral Defense Deregister Procedure

Program
Master Degree Ph.D. Degree Dual Degree
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy is offered under the general regulations of the University. The Ph.D. degree program requires at least two years of graduate study, and must be completed within seven years upon matriculation. Admission into the Ph.D. degree program is nominally offered to students who have earned a M.S. degree or equivalent, although students in the M.S. degree program may apply for admission into the Ph.D. degree program before earning their M.S. degrees. For students with earned M.S. or equivalent degrees, requirements of the Ph.D. degree may be summarized as follows. The student must complete
  1. at least 18 semester-credits of graduate-level courses (excluding seminars, Special Project, dissertation, and foreign languages), including at least 9 credits in the student's respective Group;

  2. a qualification exam must be completed within 5 semester after admission into the Ph.D. program;

  3. a written dissertation based on original research, and

  4. an oral examination that is a defense of dissertation research and is taken near the completion of the program.
M.S. students who are admitted into the Ph.D. program before earning their M.S. degrees are required to complete, in addition to the Ph.D. program, at least 42 semester-credits of graduate-level course (excluding seminars,Special Project, dissertation, and foreign languages), including at least 21 credits in the student's respective Group.