Doctoral Degrees
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Ph.D. and Other Doctoral Degree Requirements
Minimum Course Requirements: Course requirements for doctoral degrees vary from field to field and from student to student. In all fields, the Ph.D. degree requires at least 90 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree or a minimum of 60 credits beyond an accredited and awarded master’s degree, formally documented via the Master’s Degree Acknowledgement (process outlined below). At least 45 credits of any doctoral degree must be completed at the University of Florida, and in all cases, the student must complete the qualifying examination at the University of Florida.
Master’s Degree Acknowledgement (MDA): The MDA is a formalized process to acknowledge the content, level, relevancy, and contribution of a student’s prior earned master’s degree earned at a non-UF institution or in another field of study within UF to the specific student’s doctoral program of study at the University of Florida. Academic unit program faculty must complete a holistic review of the individual’s official records and transcripts to specifically evaluate the previously awarded master’s degree. Such a review must consider the following elements: age of the degree, curricular level, grades, and grading schemes. Please note that international degrees may have timelines and curricula that vary from UF standards.
The degree must have been determined by the Office of Admissions to be an accredited master’s degree or equivalent to an accredited master’s degree for international degrees. This determination by the Office of Admissions is documented in the student’s record and marked as final, official, and complete with official transcript documents viewable in the student’s record.
The MDA must be submitted prior to the qualifying examination and will be documented in the student’s Student Information System record and is subject to review by the college and approval by the Graduate School. This decision is final and cannot be reversed at a later date.
Transfer of Credit Policy for Doctoral Degrees: Any courses beyond a master’s degree taken at another university to be requested to be applied to the UF doctoral degree must be taken at an institution offering the doctoral degree and must be approved for graduate credit by the Graduate School of the University of Florida. All courses to be transferred must be graduate-level, letter-graded with a grade of B or better, and must be demonstrated to relate directly to the degree being sought. The maximum allowance for transfer is 15 credits.
Major: A Ph.D. student does the major work in an academic unit specifically approved for offering doctoral courses and supervising dissertations. See Graduate Programs. At least a B (3.00 truncated) is needed for courses included in the major.
Minor: Minor work must be in an academic unit other than the major. If an academic unit contributes more than one course (as specified in the curriculum inventory and/or the Graduate Catalog) to the major, the student is not eligible to earn a minor from the contributing academic unit. A 3.00 (truncated) GPA is required for minor credit.
With the supervisory committee’s approval, the student may choose one or more minor fields. If one minor is chosen, the supervisory committee member representing the minor suggests 12 to 24 credits of courses numbered 5000 or higher as preparation for a qualifying examination. If two minors are chosen, each must include at least 8 credits. Competency in the minor is demonstrated by a written examination by the minor academic unit or by the oral qualifying examination.
Leave of Absence
A doctoral student who seeks to take leave from UF for more than 1 semester should obtain written approval from the supervisory committee chair for a leave of absence for a designated period of time. This approved leave is kept on file in the student’s departmental record. It does not need Graduate School approval. If appropriate, the student may be required to reapply for admission upon returning. See Readmission and Catalog Year.
Supervisory Committee
Supervisory committees are nominated by the academic unit chair, approved by the dean of the college concerned, and appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. The committee should be appointed as soon as possible after the student starts doctoral work and no later than the end of the second term of equivalent full-time study. The Dean of the Graduate School is an ex officio member of all supervisory committees.
Duties and responsibilities of the supervisory committee:
Inform the student of all regulations governing the degree sought. This does not absolve the student from responsibility for being informed about these regulations. See General Regulations.
Meet immediately after appointment to review the student’s qualifications and discuss and approve a program of study.
Meet to discuss and approve the proposed dissertation project and the plans for carrying it out.
Give the student a yearly evaluation letter in addition to S/U grades earned for research courses 7979 and 7980. The chair writes this letter after consulting with the supervisory committee.
Conduct the qualifying examination (or participate in it if administered by the academic unit).
Meet when at least half the work on the dissertation is complete to review procedure, progress, and expected results; and to make suggestions for completion.
Meet with the student when the dissertation is completed and conduct the final oral examination to assure that the dissertation is a piece of original research and a contribution to the body of knowledge. The supervisory committee chair or cochair is generally present with the candidate for the examination. Other committee members may attend remotely if necessary and allowed within posted guidelines. Individual academic units must have established guidelines when addressing exceptions, applying this policy consistently in all cases. Only the actual supervisory committee may sign the ETD Signature Page, and they must approve the dissertation unanimously. See Examinations in General Regulations.
Membership: The supervisory committee for a doctoral candidate comprises at least four members selected from the Graduate Faculty. At least two members, including the chair, must be from the academic unit recommending the degree. At least one member serves as the external member and must be from a different educational discipline, with no ties to the home academic unit. One regular member may be from the home academic unit or another unit.
If a minor is chosen, the supervisory committee includes at least one Graduate Faculty member representing the student’s minor. If the student elects more than one minor, each minor area must be represented on the supervisory committee. Therefore, committees for students with two minors must have a minimum of five members.
Special appointments: People without Graduate Faculty status may be made official members of a student’s supervisory committee through the special appointment process. Appropriate candidates for special appointments include
Individuals from outside UF with specific expertise who contribute to a graduate student’s program of study
Tenure-track faculty not yet qualified for Graduate Faculty status
Non-tenure-track faculty or staff at UF who do not qualify for Graduate Faculty status
Limitations for special appointments:
They do not hold Graduate Faculty appointments
They have a special appointment that is specific only to an individual student’s committee
They may not serve as a supervisory committee chair, co-chair, external member, or minor representative.
For official recognition and tracking by the Graduate School, the student’s supervisory committee chair requests the special appointment, briefly explaining what the special appointment contributes to the supervisory committee. A special appointment is made for a specific supervisory committee. If a student changes to a new degree or major and the committee chair wishes to include the special member on the new supervisory committee, another request must be submitted to the Graduate School for the new committee.
External member:
Represents the interests of the Graduate School and UF
Knows Graduate Council policies
Serves as an advocate for the student at doctoral committee activities.
If the academic unit’s committee activity conflicts with broader University policies or practices, the external member is responsible for bringing such conflicts to the attention of the appropriate governing body. Therefore, the external member is prohibited from holding any official interest in the doctoral candidate’s major academic unit. Faculty holding joint, affiliate, courtesy, or adjunct appointments in the degree-granting academic unit cannot be external members on a student’s committee.
Minor member: The Graduate Faculty member who represents a minor on a student’s committee may be appointed as the external member if they do not have a courtesy graduate appointment in the student’s major academic unit.
Cochair: To substitute for the chair of the committee at any examinations, the cochair must be in the same academic unit as the candidate.
Substituting members at qualifying and final examination: If a supervisory committee member cannot be present at the student’s final defense, a Graduate Faculty member in the same academic area may substitute for the absent committee member. The substitute should sign the Final Examination form on the left side, in the space provided for committee members, noting the name of the absent member.
The chair of the student’s major academic unit also must indicate the reason for the absence and state that the absent member agreed to this substitution at the final examination.
The substitute should not sign the ETD signature page. The original committee member must sign.
No substitutes are allowed for the chair or external member of the committee. Changes to the supervisory committee may be entered online in GIMS before the qualifying examination.
The Graduate Council wants each supervisory committee to function as a University committee (not a departmental committee), applying University-wide standards to the various doctoral degrees, notwithstanding exceptions noted within this catalog.
Language Requirement
Any foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. is established by the major academic unit with approval of the college. The student should check with the graduate coordinator of the appropriate academic unit for specific information. The foreign language departments offer classes for graduate students starting to study a language. See the current Schedule of Courses for available languages. All candidates must be able to use the English language correctly and effectively, as judged by the supervisory committee.
Enrollment Requirement
The total number of credits (including 30 for a prior master’s degree) that may be transferred cannot exceed 45, which means doctoral students must complete a minimum of 45 of 90 total credits required for the doctoral degree at the University of Florida. An academic unit or college may establish and monitor its own more stringent requirements as desired.
Qualifying Examination
All Ph.D. candidates must take the qualifying examination. It may be taken during the third term of graduate study beyond the bachelor’s degree.
The student must be registered in the term the qualifying examination is given.
The examination, prepared and evaluated by the full supervisory committee or the major and minor academic units, is both written and oral and covers the major and minor subjects. Except for allowed substitutions, all members of the supervisory committee must attend the oral part (even if through remote means). The candidate and the supervisory committee chair or cochair generally are physically present together at the same location. However, academic units may establish consistent policy to allow attendance via remote means as exceptions to this tradition in rare incidences. For all guidelines regarding physical presence at the defense examinations, please see the Physical Presence Policy on the Graduate School website.
At the time of the qualifying examination, the supervisory committee is responsible for deciding whether the student is qualified to continue working toward the Ph.D. degree. For all guidelines regarding physical presence at the defense examinations, please see the Physical Presence Policy on the Graduate School website.
If a student fails the qualifying examination, the Graduate School should be notified. A re-examination may be requested, but it must be recommended by the supervisory committee. At least one term of additional preparation is needed before re-examination.
Time lapse: Between the oral part of the qualifying examination and the date of the degree, there must be at least 2 terms. The term the qualifying examination is passed is counted, if the examination occurs before the midpoint of the term.
Registration in Research Courses
Advanced Research (7979) is open to doctoral students not yet admitted to candidacy (classified as 7 and 8). Students enrolled in 7979 during the term they qualify for candidacy will stay in this registration unless the academic unit elects to change their enrollment to Research for Doctoral Dissertation (7980), which is reserved for doctoral students admitted to candidacy (classified as 9).
Admission to Candidacy
A graduate student becomes a candidate for the Ph.D. degree when the student is granted formal admission to candidacy. Such admission requires the approval of the student’s supervisory committee, the academic unit chair, the college dean, and the Dean of the Graduate School. The approval must be based on:
The academic record of the student
The supervisory committee’s opinion on overall fitness for candidacy
An approved dissertation topic
A qualifying examination as described above
The student should apply for admission to candidacy as soon as the qualifying examination is passed and a dissertation topic is approved by the student’s supervisory committee.
Dissertation
Each doctoral candidate must prepare and present a dissertation that shows independent investigation, and that is acceptable in form and content to the supervisory committee and to the Graduate School. The work must be of publishable quality and must be in a form suitable for publication, using the Graduate School’s format requirements. The student and supervisory committee are responsible for the level of quality and scholarship. Graduate Council requires the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, as agents of the Dean of the Graduate School, to review theses and dissertations for acceptable format and to make recommendations as needed.
Doctoral dissertation requirements: Before presentation to the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, the dissertation should be virtually complete and completely formatted (not in a draft format). Students must be completely familiar with the format requirements of the Graduate School and should work with one of the consultants in the Thesis and Dissertation Support Center to troubleshoot the dissertation before attempting to make a first submission to the editors in the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office. Students who fail to first meet with one of the T&D Lab Consultants often find their document rejected upon first submission to the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, for not meeting the minimum submission standards, required for an editorial review. In order to set an appointment with the support center, students should visit their website and select the option to "Book an Appointment" from the menu on the left.
Dissertation Format Requirements:
http://graduateschool.ufl.edu/about-us/offices/editorial/format-requirements/
Doctoral Dissertation Checklist:
http://graduateschool.ufl.edu/media/graduate-school/pdf-files/Doctoral-Checklist.pdf
The Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office:
http://graduateschool.ufl.edu/about-us/offices/editorial/thesis-and-dissertation/
Thesis and Dissertation Support Center:
https://helpdesk.ufl.edu/application-support-center/
GatorLink email requirement: UF requires all students to maintain access to their GatorLink email.
Dissertation First Submission: Before presentation to the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, the thesis should be virtually complete and completely formatted (not in a draft format). Students must be completely familiar with the format requirements of the Graduate School and should work with one of the consultants in the Thesis and Dissertation Support Center to troubleshoot the dissertation before attempting to make submission to the editors in the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office. Students who fail to first meet with one of the Lab Consultants often find their document rejected upon First Submission to the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, for not meeting the minimum submission standards required for an editorial review.
Should the document pass the submission requirements and appear acceptable for review, the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office will email the student, using their GatorLink email address, confirming the submission and responding with an acceptance email. Should the document not pass first submission requirements, a denial email will instead be sent, advising the student of their options at that time. This notice must be addressed immediately. Once a successful first submission has been achieved and the document has been reviewed by one of the Graduate School’s editors, another email is sent, providing editorial feedback to the student and committee chair. The student is responsible for retrieving the dissertation, review comments, and resolving any deficits related to the format requirements. Students should promptly make all required changes.
Uploading and submitting the final pdf for Final Submission: After changes have been made to the satisfaction of the supervisory committee, the Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) Signature Page is submitted electronically to the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, via the Graduate Information Management System (GIMS). This must be completed by the the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office's Final Submission Deadline. Once submitted, the student should upload and submit the final pdf of the electronic thesis, using the Editorial Package portal found within the Graduate Information Management System (GIMS). The document will undergo a final review by one of the Graduate School Representatives. The Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office ensures that the format is acceptable, that all indicated changes were made, and that all of the hyperlinks work within the document. The Graduate School Representative then emails the student regarding the status of the ETD. If accepted, no further changes are allowed. If changes are still required, the student should resubmit the corrected document as soon as possible. All documents must be confirmed with final approval emails from the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office by the Final Clearance deadline. This deadline is firm, and no exceptions can be granted. When all changes have been made and approved, the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office will email the Committee Chair and the student with a message, indicating the student has achieved Final Clearance with the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office.
Final Clearance: Among other requirements (see Checklist above), the final thesis must be confirmed as accepted, by email, by 5:00 p.m. on this deadline. This deadline only applies, if all other posted deadlines for the term have been appropriately met. Because there are hundreds of students in this process, most students complete all requirements well in advance. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure they have achieved Final Clearance status by the Final Clearance Deadline for the term in which they intend to graduate. This can be confirmed via GIMS.
Publication of dissertation: The work will be accessible through the University's Institutional Repository (IR). Students who began their graduate program in the fall of 2001 or later must submit their final dissertations electronically to the IR (not on paper). All dissertation students must submit a publication agreement to ProQuest even if they elect not to send the full dissertation to ProQuest for publication; after University restrictions have expired, the abstract of the document will be retained in ProQuest archives.
Copyright: The student is automatically the copyright holder, by virtue of having written the dissertation. A copyright page should be included immediately after the title page to indicate this. The Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office does not accept copyright registration requests. Registering copyright is not required and does not benefit most students. Any students who wish to register a copyright can do so themselves (http://www.copyright.gov).
Dissertation language: Dissertations must be written in English, except for students pursuing degrees in Romance or Germanic languages and literatures. Students in these disciplines, with the approval of their supervisory committees, may write in the topic language. A foreign language dissertation should have the Acknowledgments, Abstract, and Biographical Sketch written in English. All page titles before Chapter 1 should also be in English.
Journal articles: Dissertations may include journal articles as chapters, if all copyright considerations are addressed appropriately. In such cases, Chapter 1 should be a general introduction, tying everything together as a unified whole. The last chapter should be general conclusions, again tying everything together into a unified whole. Any chapter representing a journal article needs a footnote at the bottom of the first page of the chapter: “Reprinted with permission from … ” giving the source, just as it appears in the list of references. The dissertation should have only 1 abstract and 1 reference list.
Guidelines for Restriction on the Release of Dissertations
Research performed at the University can effectively contribute to the education of our students and to the body of knowledge that is our heritage only if the results of the research are published freely and openly. Conflicts can develop when it is in the interests of sponsors of university research to restrict such publication. When such conflicts arise, the University must decide what compromises it is willing to accept, taking into account the relevant circumstances.
Final Examination
While submitting the dissertation and completing all other work prescribed for the degree, the candidate is given a final examination, oral or written or both, by the supervisory committee. The candidate and the supervisory committee chair or cochair generally are physically present together at the same location. However, academic units may establish consistent policy to allow attendance via remote means as exceptions to this tradition in rare incidences. For all guidelines regarding physical presence at the defense examinations, please see the Physical Presence Policy on the Graduate School website.
The defense should be no more than three semesters, including the term in which the defense is completed, before the degree is awarded. All forms should be signed at the defense: the candidate signs and posts the UF Publishing Agreement to GIMS, after discussing their choices with the supervisory committee chair(s); the entire supervisory committee signs the ETD Signature Page and the Final Examination Report at the defense. If dissertation revisions are requested, the supervisory Committee Chair or their designee should withhold posting the ETD Signature Page to GIMS until all committee members are satisfied with the dissertation. However, this form must be submitted electronically, via GIMS, by the Final Submission Deadline for the Graduate School's Thesis, Dissertation, and Publications Office, during the term of the student's intended degree award.
Satisfactory performance on this examination and adherence to all Graduate School regulations outlined above complete the requirements for the degree.
Time limitation on the Qualifying Exam: All work for the doctorate must be completed within 5 calendar years after the qualifying examination, or this examination must be repeated.
Graduate Degree Table
Degrees are listed in bold. Majors are listed in standard type, and concentrations are in italics. T designates the thesis/dissertation degrees, while an N designation indicates a non-thesis or a degree without a dissertation requirement.
Click the link to the right or the link to follow for the entire expanded list of all UF graduate degree offerings.
NOTE
Updates to catalog pages: The information in this catalog related to the degrees listed is current as of July 2025. Please contact individual programs for additional updates. Updates to this catalog should be submitted by the academic units each term via the Graduate School's Contact Form. Please also feel free to report any revisions or discrepancies via email to grad-catalog@ufl.edu. Updates are appreciated throughout the entire year.