Oral Exams & Defenses

There are 3 milestone exams required by the University for all graduate students: the Master’s Final Exam/Thesis Defense if you are a master's degree student*, and the Oral Comprehensive Exam and Final PhD Exam/Dissertation Defense if you are a doctoral student. These exams require pre-approval from the COGA at least two weeks prior to the exam date. Your department will request this pre-approval on your behalf once the exam is scheduled, so you should work with your department as early as possible to schedule your exam.

*Master's programs designated as coursework only do not require a final exam.

Final Exams/Defenses must occur before the graduation deadline. If you are defending a dissertation or thesis, we recommend holding the defense at least 2 weeks prior to the deadline so you have time to complete post-defense edits to the manuscript.

Oral Comprehensive Exams for doctoral students must be completed within the following time periods in order for credit hours taken during that term to count toward your post-comprehensive enrollment: 

• Fall = Aug 1 - Dec 31
• Spring = Jan 1 - May 31
• Summer = June 1- July 31

When you and your department seek approval to schedule one of these exams, COGA checks to ensure you have fulfilled certain requirements: 

• Enrolled in the degree plan for which the exam is being completed
• Cumulative graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Completed or will complete at least 30 credit hours (for master's students)
• Enrolled for the current term (unless the exam is completed prior to the early graduation deadline)
• No waiting or incomplete grades
• Within maximum degree time limit
• If the exam is a thesis or dissertation defense, enrollment in at least 1 thesis or dissertation hour 

For doctoral exams, COGA also checks to see that you have: 

• Completed two semesters of full time enrollment as defined by the full-time enrollment policy OR at least 18 credit hours across multiple semesters
• Completed the Research Skills and Responsible Scholarship requirement for your degree program
• Successfully passed the Comprehensive Oral Exam within the last 5 years (for Final Exam approval only)
• Maintained appropriate post-comprehensive enrollment (for Final Exam approval only) 

Finally, COGA will verify that the composition of your exam committee meets Graduate Studies' policy requirements fir Master's exam committee composition and Doctoral exam committee composition. Mediated attendance (teleconference or videoconference) by other members is allowable only if the student agrees to such arrangements.