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As soon as the substantial majority of the course work is completed, the student must pass a written qualifying examination covering the subject matter in the major and related fields. This examination may be supplemented by an oral examination. Students must be enrolled for a minimum of two (2) hours of graduate credit in their discipline at the time they take the qualifying examination. If the exam is taken between semesters, students must be enrolled for a minimum of two (2) hours of graduate credit in the semester before or following the exam.

The commonly used formats For the USF policy on Qualifying Exams please refer to the USF Catalog. The Qualifying Exam Application must be submitted through Archivum.

Between years 2 and 3 students should finalize their dissertation topic and begin preparing for their qualifying exam. Students will also complete most of their coursework during this time. The commonly used formats of the qualifying exam include, but are not limited to: a) Concept Paper and Written Take-Home Format, b) Written Take-Home Open Book Format, and c) Written In-College Closed Book Format. A concentration may also require an oral examination component. 

Concept Paper – General Information

• Certain concentrations require that students submit a concept paper prior to taking the qualifying exam. A concept paper is a short summary of the student’s research interests and proposed plans for the dissertation research. Concept paper requirements (if any) vary by concentration. Students should check with their (Co-) Major Professor(s) for more information.

Qualifying Exam – General Information

• When the majority of the course work is completed, all PhD students are required to pass a qualifying exam to be eligible for candidacy. The qualifying exam will cover the relevant subject matter in the major and related fields. Students must be registered for a minimum of two credit hours while taking the qualifying exam.
• The format of the qualifying exam will vary by concentration. Students should discuss their concentration’s specific requirements with their (Co-) Major Professor(s).
• Once the student and their committee agree that the student is ready to complete the qualifying exam, the Qualifying Exam Application must be submitted through Archivum.

Regardless of the format used, once the qualifying examination is complete, the Doctoral Committee members are given at least two weeks to review the examination. Within three weeks of exam completion, the student will receive written feedback from the Doctoral Committee Chair, denoting strengths and weaknesses of the exam, and providing an evaluative assessment for each question.

In order to be admitted to doctoral candidacy, students must meet the following requirements at USF:

• admission to a doctoral program
• appointment of a Doctoral Committee,
• attainment of an overall and degree program Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 at USF at the time of candidacy. (All “I” and “M” grades, including “IF” and “MF”, must be cleared before candidacy may be finalized.)
• successful completion of a qualifying examination
• certification by the Doctoral Committee that the above qualifications have been successfully completed.

The Admission to Candidacy form should be submitted for approval during the semester that the qualifying exams were completed, but no later than the semester following the successful completion of the exam. The form will be approved by the Dean of the College and forwarded to the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies for final approval. Doctoral Candidacy is effective as of the day that the Office of Graduate Studies approves of the request and changes the student's status to 6C. For procedures and processing deadlines refer to the Office of Graduate Studies website at www.grad.usf.edu.

Once candidacy status is approved, students with approved candidacy are eligible to enroll in dissertation hours (7980) in the semester that immediately follows the last business day of the approval window. For example, students approved during the Fall approval window may enroll in the Spring. Students approved during the Spring approval window may enroll in the summer and students approved during the Summer approval window may enroll in the Fall. Students may NOT enroll in dissertation hours prior to being admitted to doctoral candidacy.

Each degree program has a required number of dissertation hours for completion of the degree. Concentrations may, with College approval, apply Directed Research hours toward the total number of dissertation hours required. Directed Research hours shall not exceed 50% of the dissertation hour requirement. No directed research hours will be converted to dissertation hours (i.e. a directed research course dropped and a dissertation course added) prior to or during the approval window. For more information refer to Enrollment Requirements in the Academic Policies section.

For the USF policy on Admission to Candidacy please refer to the USF Catalog. Once completed, the  Admission to Doctoral Candidacy Form should be submitted to cophdoctoral@usf.edu for final signature and processing.