Students may pursue the Master's degree plan under either Plan A or Plan B.

Information on Ph.D. requirements can be found here: Ph.D. Requirements.

There are no foreign language requirements for either degree.

Masters Degree Plan A Summary

Credit Requirements: Courses older than 6 years do not count towards your degree!

Graduate Program Time Line:

Assemble graduate committee and file program proposal by middle of second term. A faculty committee consists of three to five faculty representing student's major and supporting courses areas. An MSU-Bozeman faculty member must serve as chair. If more than 9 credits of the program are from a "supporting course area"**, then the committee must have a member from that area. A majority of committee members must be from the major department, and majority must be from MSU-Bozeman.

Failure to assemble committee and file program proposal by the end of your second semester means you cannot get financial aid (GRA, GTA etc.)!!!

Program changes must be filed before the end of the affected semester(s).

You must be registered for 3 credits during the term in which you take the comprehensive exam and/or thesis defense and during the term of graduation.

The following deadlines apply to the graduation term:

• File application for Advanced Degree with the Grad Studies and Register (by third Friday of term).
• Submit Thesis Outline, if required by the department, to the Thesis Committee (three member subset of Graduate Committee) for approval.
• Schedule Comprehensive Oral Examination and Thesis Defense (two weeks prior to exam).
• Deliver completed Thesis to full Graduate Committee (at least one week prior to exam).

Remember, your committee may require changes or corrections to your thesis, so you should be giving them ample time prior to your defense to read and comment on the document, in order that you can make requested changes and still meet all of your deadlines.

• Pass Comprehensive Oral examination and Thesis Defense (at least two weeks prior to end of term).
• Deliver signed Thesis to grad studies (at least two weeks prior to end of term).

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Masters Degree Plan B Summary

Credit Requirements: Courses older than 6 years do not count towards your degree!

Assemble graduate committee and file program proposal by middle of second term. A faculty committee consists of three to five faculty representing student's major and supporting courses areas. An MSU-Bozeman faculty member must serve as chair. If more than 9 credits of the program are from a "supporting course area"**, then the committee must have a member from that area. A majority of committee members must be from the major department, and majority must be from MSU-Bozeman.

Failure to assemble committee and file program proposal by the end of your second semester means you cannot get financial aid (GRA, GTA etc.)!!!

Program changes must be filed before the end of the affected semester(s).

You must be registered for 3 credits during the term in which you take the comprehensive exam and/or thesis defense and during the term of graduation.

The following deadlines apply to the graduation term:

• File application for Advanced Degree with the Grad Studies and Register (by third Friday of term).
• Schedule Comprehensive Oral Examination and Thesis Defense (two weeks prior to exam).

Oral exams may be scheduled to occur during either the 5th week or the 13th week of the semester. The 5th week exams are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to retake an exam, should it be necessary, without jeopardizing your graduation date.

• Pass Comprehensive Oral Examination (at least two weeks ahead ofterm).

*"major area credits" are EE credits plus courses from other departments closely related to your major area of study, as determined by your committee

**"supporting course area" means closely related courses that are outside of the major area"

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Ph.D. Requirements Summary

It is typical for a Ph.D. student to earn about 24 credits above the M.S. level, in addition to a dissertation (minimum of 18 credits). In progress toward this degree, the students must pass the following examinations:

• A written and oral qualifying examination usually given in February to all doctorate students in their first year of work beyond the Master's degree.
• A comprehensive examination to be taken six to twelve months after the qualifying examination has been completed.
• A final oral examination relating to the defense of an acceptable thesis based on the student's research.

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Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 6/18/07