This examination is taken upon completion of the thesis and is an oral defense of the dissertation and related subjects as determined by the members of the M.S. candidate s Examination Committee. See the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College for further details. Up to 30 semester hours credit can be transferred from the graduate coursework performed at other institutions. A minimum of one year's full time campus residency is required. Individuals without an engineering degree may be required to take additional course work, which may not be applied directly for credit to the graduate degree program.
Graduate students entering the Ph.D. program have diverse backgrounds and levels of preparation.
During the first year of study in the Ph.D. program, students generally focus intensively on lower level graduate courses that provide a firm foundation from which they can take advanced graduate courses, and begin to pursue their dissertation research. By the end of their first year of Ph.D. studies, students are required to take the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam the requirements of which are laid out below. Upon having passed the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam, students then have one calendar year to focus intensively on their research and to take supporting advanced graduate level courses. At the end of this time period, students must take the Comprehensive Examination. Within two years after passing the Comprehensive Exam, students are expected to present and defend their completed Ph.D. dissertation in the Ph.D. Final Examination.