Degree Requirements

Students must complete at least 72 semester hours of graduate coursework. An overall grade point average of 3.00 must be maintained for program continuation and completion. Students are required to take a minimum of 24 semester hours of core curriculum; 12 semester hours of prescribed track electives selected from the list of elective courses for this program; six semester hours of free electives selected from any course offered at participating graduate programs; and 30 semester hours of research and dissertation work.

While there is no prescribed sequence of courses for the program, students and their graduate advisers must develop an individualized education plan that accounts for the varied semester course offerings and prerequisites and that can be completed in three years. Upon completion of the qualifying examinations, the student meets with the appropriate committee and graduate adviser, who then recommend to the graduate dean whether the student should be admitted to doctoral candidacy. After admission to candidacy, the student must enroll in the dissertation course each fall and spring semester.