Doctoral students are required to take comprehensive examinations after they complete required coursework. The goals of the comprehensive exams are to evaluate students’ mastery of their chosen field and to determine whether they are prepared to succeed in their dissertation research. Comprehensive exams are to be scheduled within a year after the completion of coursework but no later than five years after the passing of the Qualifying Exam. All comps are administered, overseen, and evaluated by a student’s Ph.D. committee. Each member of the committee writes a question that assesses a student’s knowledge of a content domain, broadly defined. Whereas some questions might ask students to look backwards and summarize aspects of course content they encountered, other questions might ask students to look forward and propose extensions to existing research and novel research ideas.
To be eligible to take the comprehensive exams, students must be in good academic standing and be a registered student during the semester in which comps are taken. Students must also have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and not have any deferred or missing grades. A favorable vote from at least two-thirds of the Ph.D. committee is required to pass the comprehensive exams. If a period of more than six years elapses between the passing of the comprehensive exams and the completion of the program, the student is required to pass a second set of comprehensive exams before the final oral defense can be scheduled.