Mar 28, 2024  
2015-2016 Graduate Catalog 
    
2015-2016 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

Degree Requirements- College Of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences


 Colleges  > College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences  > General Degree Requirements

 

CLASS offers a wide variety of degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels.  Due to the wide range of degrees offered, students are advised to consult the Degrees Offered  page listing all degrees offered in CLASS and also the departmental sections of this catalog for specific information on degree requirements of particular degrees.

General requirements for master’s degrees:

Most departments and schools in the college offer master’s degrees, which provide in-depth instruction and preparation, beyond the bachelor’s level, in a particular field.  All master’s degrees require a significant amount of coursework, and all also require a master’s thesis, comprehensive examination, or other capstone project or experience to attain the degree.  For program tracks requiring a thesis, the thesis committee must consist of at least three faculty members, at least two of whom must come from the major department.  After these minimum requirements for committee members are satisfied, additional committee members may be approved.

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Requires a minimum of 30-36 graduate hours in the field, depending on program and track.

Master of Athletic Training (M.Ath.T.)

Requires a minimum of 57 credit hours of graduate coursework and clinical experiences.

Master of Education (M.Ed.)

Requires a minimum of 36 graduate hours.

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

Requires a minimum of 45-60 graduate hours, depending on artistic field.  The MFA is considered a “terminal” degree, meaning that it is generally the highest degree granted in the performing and visual arts disciplines.

Master of Music (M.M.)

Requires a minimum of 30 graduate hours.

Master of Science (M.S.)

Requires a minimum of 36 graduate hours.

General Requirements for doctoral degrees

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Awarding of the Ph.D. degree signifies that the recipient has acquired a broad knowledge of the discipline and has demonstrated, by successful completion of an acceptable dissertation, research competence meeting the discipline’s national standards.  The Ph.D. program requires a minimum of one academic year of full-time residence; coursework (number of required hours varies by program); enrollment in at least six semester hours of dissertation courses; and successful completion of language requirements and disciplinary examinations, at the discretion of the department.

Doctoral students’ dissertation committees must be comprised of a minimum of four members to include three faculty members from the major department and one approved member external to the major department, who is acceptable to the department and the college.  After these minimum requirements for committee members are satisfied, additional committee members may be approved.

Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.)

Awarding of the D.M.A. degree signifies that the recipient has acquired a broad knowledge of music in all its aspects-practical, historical, and theoretical-and has demonstrated, by successful completion of recitals and a doctoral research project, performance and scholarly competence meeting the discipline’s national standards.  The D.M.A. requires at least 60 hours of doctoral-level work and successful completion of language requirements and disciplinary examinations, at the discretion of the Moores School of Music.

D.M.A. students’ doctoral committees must be comprised of a minimum of four members, to include the student’s major professor; a second faculty member from the student’s major field; one at-large faculty member from the School of Music but from outside the student’s discipline; and one at-large faculty member from any discipline, inside or outside the School of Music.  At least one committee member must be from an academic department in the school of music (music theory, musicology, composition, or music education), and in all cases the committee must include at least one member who has written a doctoral document or dissertation.