What Are the Requirements for a Doctorate's Degree?
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Getting a Doctoral Degree
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Following admission to a university's doctoral program, prepare yourself for an average of 7 years of intensive study and research. Students begin their study for a doctoral degree by completing a program of required coursework. The required coursework generally takes 2 or 3 years to complete, and the average number of course credit hours required varies widely by type of degree and field of study. Many doctoral students work as teaching or research assistants for tenured faculty members and may even have some teaching or lecturing responsibilities for undergraduate classes.
Comprehensive Exams
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Once you complete your required coursework, you can expect to spend some time preparing for comprehensive examinations that are designed to test your knowledge of the field you are studying. Some doctoral programs may require only one comprehensive examination; others may require more than one. For example, some doctoral programs may require students to take a comprehensive examination that covers theoretical areas and a second exam that focuses on methodology. Students must successfully complete the comprehensive examination(s) before being allowed to advance to the next stage in the doctoral education process: dissertation research.
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Dissertation
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After coursework and successful completion of comprehensive exams, students begin work on a dissertation of original research. The dissertation can take more than a year of full-time effort to complete. It should demonstrate a knowledge of the student's field of study and an ability to conduct independent research. A doctoral student usually will work closely with a professor of her choice, and that professor will advise the student and monitor progress on the dissertation. After completion of the dissertation, a committee of professors from the student's school conducts an oral examination or dissertation defense, in which the student presents the research in the dissertation and responds to professors' questions and challenges to the research and findings. The committee may vote to accept the dissertation, accept it conditional on some revisions, or reject it. Successful defense of the dissertation is the final requirement for the doctoral degree.
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