Correspondence and off-campus courses may not be counted toward the residency requirement. A doctoral dissertation, for which a student earns a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of 24 hours credit, is required of each candidate. A final oral examination is held at the completion of the dissertation and is concerned primarily with the dissertation research accomplished by the student. Four year funding is available for students making satisfactory progress toward their degree. Assistantship duties are evenly split between teaching and research.
Additional funding is also available through graduate fellowships provided at the university level.
Qualifications for summer instruction include completion of at least one semester of course work, satisfactory performance in any prior teaching responsibilities, acceptable progress toward the degree, and completion of English language proficiency skills required by the university of international students. Alternatively, summer support for research-related fellowships is also available. Ph.D. students receive discounts on books, and computer hardware and software as part of their financial support. In addition, Ph.D. students generally receive a full tuition waiver. Funding is also available for research projects and travel associated with research presentations at major academic conferences.