A student is designated a "Candidate for a Ph.D. degree" upon application to the graduate school, after completing the written, oral and foreign language exams (if required by the program; our program no longer has a foreign language requirement). This marks the official beginning of the student's dissertation work. A total of 72 credits with a minimum being 24 Research credits are required to receive a PhD degree.
Advancing to Candidacy in the Ph.D. Program
Doctoral Candidacy is a formal designation by the graduate school which signifies that a student has passed the preliminary requirements (Written Exams and Oral Exam) and is involved in research for the dissertation.
Once a student has completed their Oral qualifying examination and most of their course work, their signed Oral Exam Candidacy form is sent to the School of Graduate Studies and you Advance to Candidacy.
