PhD Program Overview

A major portion of a graduate student's degree program must be completed under the supervision of the Graduate Faculty at The University of Texas at Austin. Each degree candidate must spend a minimum of three long semesters in residence at The University of Texas at Austin.

No official time limit has been imposed for finishing the doctoral degree. However, all completed course work that is included on a student's degree program at the time of admission to candidacy must have been taken within the previous six years (exclusive of a maximum three years of military service). The dissertation defense must take place within three years of the student's admission to candidacy. If the student has not completed the dissertation within that time frame, the GSC and the Graduate School will conduct a review of the student's status at the three-year point and yearly thereafter to ensure that progress toward completion of the degree is being made.

Students are responsible for insuring that all relevant documentation is present in his or her advisor's file. Each student will provide his or her faculty advisor with copies of all papers written for courses (including those completed for courses outside the Department) in order to help the advisory committee monitor the student's development of academic writing skills.