1 GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING 9 May 2012 102 Kern Graduate ...

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examinations, pass or fail, must be reported to Graduate Enrollment Services via the Candidacy
Reporting Form.
For the Ph.D. student, the examination may be given after at least 18 credits have been earned in
graduate courses beyond the baccalaureate. The examination must be taken within three
semesters (summer sessions do not count) of entry into the doctoral program.
For the D.Ed. student, the examination should be given when the student has earned a total of at
least 30 credits toward the graduate degree, including the master’s program and graduate work
done elsewhere. A student transferring from another graduate school with 30 or more credits
earned toward a graduate degree must take the candidacy examination prior to earning more than
25 credits toward the graduate degree at Penn State.
For the D.M.A. student, the examination should be given when the student has completed two
semesters in residence.
COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
When a candidate for the Ph.D., D.Ed., or D.M.A. degree has substantially completed all course
work, a comprehensive examination is given. The examination is intended to evaluate the
candidate’s mastery of the major, and if appropriate, the minor field. Official requests to add a
minor to a doctoral candidate's academic record must be submitted to Graduate Enrollment
Services prior to establishing the doctoral committee and prior to scheduling the comprehensive
examination. For more information regarding minors, please see the following web pages.
---For Ph.D. candidates:
http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/whitebook/degree_requirements.cfm?section=degreeReq2
---For D.Ed. candidates:
http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/whitebook/degree_requirements.cfm?section=degreeReq3
---For general information regarding minors:
http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/whitebook/minors.cfm
(Note: Some programs require students to pass various “area” examinations, “cumulative”
examinations, and the like, or require presentation of a thesis proposal, prior to the
comprehensive. These are matters of departmental or program policy, distinct from the general
policies of Graduate Council described here.)
A candidate for the Ph.D. must have satisfied the English competence and the communication
and foreign language requirement before taking the comprehensive examination.
All candidates are required to have a minimum grade-point average of 3.00 for work done at the
University at the time the comprehensive examination is given, and may not have deferred or
missing grades.
The graduate student must be in good academic standing and must be registered as a full-time or
part-time graduate degree student for the semester in which the comprehensive examination is
taken.
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