Admission to The Graduate School does not constitute or guarantee a student's admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Admission to candidacy is contingent upon the recommendation of the student's department or program and upon approval of the Graduate Faculty.

Deadlines
A student must be admitted to candidacy prior to the beginning of the student's fourth year.  Deadlines may only be altered in the case of a medical or family leave, requiring that a petition for deadline extension be submitted to and approved by The Graduate School.

Requirements and Procedures
Admission to candidacy is reached by passing a comprehensive qualifying examination, written or oral or both. Individual departments or programs determine the character of this examination. At the time of admission to candidacy, proficiency in the major and related fields is certified and additional requirements for the Ph.D. degree are stipulated. Students should be aware of requirements for admission to candidacy established by both the department or program and the Graduate Faculty.

The department, in consultation with the advisor, initiates the procedure for scheduling the qualifying examination. The Director of Graduate Studies, or someone delegated by the DGS, submits the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam form online via TGS Forms in SES. The department must submit approval of this form by the end of the registration period of the student's first quarter of TGS 599.  Following the completion of the Qualifying Exam, students will be admitted to candidacy.  Students are notified in writing by The Graduate School of their admission to candidacy, further requirements for the completion of their program, and their degree deadline.

Published Policies Regarding Qualifying Exams
All programs must publish (in a printed handbook and/or on the Web) all policies regarding qualifying exams.  At the minimum, this policy document must delineate: a) what written and oral exams are required of students; b) when students take the exams; c) what opportunities, if any, students have to re-take the exam if they fail (and on what timeline);  and d) the criteria for impact of a student's performance on allowing or not allowing a student to remediate and/or continue in the program.