Residence

You must complete at least 18 credit hours and 6 dissertation hours for a total of 24 hours for the PhD degree at The University of Texas at Austin.

Number of Hours

18 hours of graduate courses beyond the MS degree plus 6 hours of dissertation courses (EM 399R and EM 399W).

Time Limit

The coursework must be completed within 6 years of being admitted to Candidacy.

Letter Grades

Courses must be taken for letter grades until you have passed the written qualifying exam. After you have passed the written qualifying exam, you may count graduate courses taken for Credit/No Credit toward the required number of graduate hours.

PhD without MS

Graduate students who do not already have an MS degree are allowed to pursue the PhD degree without getting an MS degree along the way. The coursework requirement for this degree is 54 hours. 48 credit hours of graduate courses and 6 dissertation hours are required for a total of 54 hours for the PhD without MS.

Dissertation Research

Once you have been admitted to candidacy, you get credit for dissertation research by registering for EM X99R first and then EM X99W each succeeding semester. The 'X' can be taken for 3, 6, or 9 credit hours per semester. Before you are admitted to candidacy, credit for dissertation research is obtained by registering for EM X97K. The X97K courses do not count toward your degree, but they can qualify you as a full-time student for financial aid.