Art Education
College of Arts and Architecture
School of Visual Arts
Checklist of Graduate School Requirements for Ph.D. Candidates
The following is a summary of Graduate School requirements that Ph.D. students must meet before the Office of Graduate Programs may approve their graduation. For more detailed information on these and other requirements, please refer to the http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/whitebook/$aap.htm.
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT. After passing the doctoral candidacy examination, students must be registered full time for two semesters in a twelve-month period. This may include the semester of candidacy examination if it is taken during spring or fall.
A candidate for the Ph.D. must have satisfied the departmental English Competency Test before taking the Candidacy Examination.
Three or more months must have elapsed between the passing of the Comprehensive Examination and scheduling of the Ph.D. Thesis Defense.
The Ph.D. Thesis Defense must be held within six years of the date the Comprehensive Examination was passed. If more than six years have passed, a second Comprehensive Examination must be successfully taken before scheduling the Ph.D. Thesis Defense. If students have a minor field, they must earn at least 15 graduate credits in that field. If courses other than those offered in the minor field are to be used, a listing of those courses must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Programs. Students having a minor field must have a representative from that field on their doctoral committee.
CONTINUOUS REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT. Students must be registered continuously each semester (excluding summers, but see below*) beginning with the semester following the passing of the Comprehensive Examination and continuing each semester until the Final Oral Examination is passed.
TIME LIMITATION. All requirements including submission of the thesis must be completed within eight years of the Candidacy date.
Students MUST be registered the semester of the Candidacy Examination, the Oral Comprehensive Examination, and the Final Oral Examination--even if taken during summer session.*
No missing or deferred grades can appear on a student's transcript when the Oral Comprehensive Examination or the Final Oral Examination is scheduled.
Students must have at least a 3.0 grade-point average to schedule an Oral Comprehensive Examination or Final Oral Examination and to graduate.
No more than 12 credits of thesis research (600/610) may be assigned a quality letter grade. Any credits over this maximum must be changed to 'R' before a student will be permitted to graduate. Students or their faculty advisors must receive approval through the Office of Regulatory Compliance (865-1775) prior to initiating any student research that involves human subjects, vertebrate animals, or biohazardous agents.
THESE ARE GRADUATE SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS ONLY AND DO NOT INCLUDE SPECIFIC PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.