Graduate: PhD Program
Doctoral Plan of Study
Each student, together with their advisor, must submit a Doctoral Plan of Study to The Graduate School by the end of second semester. The plan must include specific courses the student is expected to complete as a minimum requirement and all specific core, seminar, language, and research requirements of the major department. This Plan of Study can be revised at a later date once the student is ready to apply to The Graduate School for formal admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
The following restrictions on credits are placed on all PhD degrees by The Graduate School:
- No more than one quarter of the hours credited toward the PhD may be at the 500-level, exclusive of the dissertation.
- Students may take no more than 15 hours of independent study, exclusive of the dissertation.
- No credit evaluated as B- (2.7) or lower can be counted towards the degree.
- All courses that appear on the student’s Plan of Study must have been completed within seven
years of the granting of the degree. For students admitted to the PhD program directly from
a baccalaureate program, the limit is ten years.
The Plan of Study must be submitted to the Vice Provost and Dean of The Graduate School for approval. Copies of the approved Plan of Study must be filed in the student’s permanent folder in The Graduate School, in the department’s files, with the chair and each member of the advisory/dissertation committee, and with the student. Any subsequent changes in the Plan of Study or in the subject of the dissertation must be submitted to The Graduate School for approval.
