The department offers during each regular semester about twelve courses open only to graduate students and about twenty open to both graduates and undergraduates. The examinations for the M.A. and for the Ph.D. qualifying examination require acquaintance with the full range of English and American literature. It is estimated that students with a bachelor's degree and a major in English who devote full time to study can complete the M.A. in one year and the Ph.D. in four. If a student holds a departmental assistantship, the time is proportionately longer. Full-time students may take four courses in the fall and spring semesters, and a maximum of two in each summer term.
Departmental assistants take fewer, depending on the extent of their responsibilities.
According to Graduate School regulations, graduate students must maintain a B average. The English Department expects students beyond the M.A. to maintain a better than B average. For a fuller explanation of degree requirements, see pp. During the summer semester, which consists of two terms of five weeks each, the department offers a limited number of seminars and courses, and so It is difficult for a student to achieve a degree by attending only in the summer. Furthermore, since many of the staff are not regularly in residence in the summer, any candidate who wishes to receive a degree at the August commencement must make sure in advance that members of his or her committee will be available.