With master's degree:

Requires a minimum of forty-two hours of graduate credit.

• Twelve credit hours must be 4000-, 5000-, and 6000-level lecture courses. Recommended that nine credit hours of the required coursework come from the group of 6000-level lecture courses.
• Twenty-four credit hours of graduate research (5099/6099) is required.
• 3000-level and non-lecture (e.g., special problems (5000/6000) or seminar (5010/6010)) courses only count toward the total credit hour requirement and do NOT count toward the lecture or research credit hour requirements.

Without master's degree:

Requires a minimum of seventy-two hours of graduate credit.

• Thirty credit hours must be 4000-. 5000-, and 6000-level lecture courses. Recommended that fifteen credit hours of the required coursework come from the group of 6000- level lecture courses.
• Thirty credit hours of graduate research (5099/6099) is required.
• 3000-level and non-lecture (e.g., special problems (5000/6000) or seminar (5010/6010)) courses only count toward the total credit hour requirement and do NOT count toward the lecture or research credit hour requirements.

• The committee must consist of a minimum of five members; the academic advisor will serve as the chairperson of the dissertation advisory committee.
• The advisor and at least three other committee members must be members of Missouri S&T graduate faculty.
• If the main advisor is outside of the major department, a co-advisor from the major department must be designated.
• The committee must include at least one member from outside the student’s major department.
• If a committee member is not a member of the Missouri S&T graduate faculty, a vita verifying equivalent level (or higher) of education must be provided with the Form 5/5A.

• A minimum of three years of residency is required (one year is credited for the master's degree).
• Students unable to meet the residency requirement given above, such as distance students, can meet this requirement through an alternative route.
  • It is the responsibility of the student’s academic advisor to document suitable residency experiences; this documentation must be included with the Form 5/5A.

Grades

• On any plan of study, no substitution may be made for a course in which the student has earned less than a B grade.
• If a student receives a grade of F in a course listed on their approved plan of study, the course must be retaken until credit is received.

Academic Probation

• If the semester graduate GPA falls below 3.0 the student will be placed on probation for the following semester. If the semester GPA is not 3.0 or above in the following semester that coursework is taken, the student shall no longer be a candidate for a graduate degree or certificate from Missouri S&T.

Graduation

• To earn a graduate degree a student must achieve both a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for all graduate courses listed on the plan of study and cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in all coursework taken at Missouri S&T. 

Degree

• Once admitted to a doctoral program, a student will be given eight years to complete the program. This is counted from the program requirement (admit) term.
  • A student may take a leave of absence, up to one year only, which will not count toward the eight-year time limit.

Courses

• All graduate credit will only be valid if earned within the previous ten years, with no possible extension.

• Must not have been used to meet the requirements of another degree, must have been registered as graduate credit, and earned B grade equivalent or better.
• Must be entered as part of the student's plan of study on the Form 5/5A.
  • Course must be listed as it was taken (number and title); Missouri S& T equivalent course must be stated (in parenthesis) following the course title.
    • If there is no equivalent course, general credit can be used (GNCR SXXX or GNCR GXXX).
  • Transcript should accompany the Form 5/5A; official transcript must be on file with the Registrar's Office.

With master's degree:

• A maximum of nine credit hours of coursework may be transferred from another university.

Without master's degree:

• A maximum of eighteen credit hours of coursework may be transferred from another university.

• Full-time enrollment for graduate students is nine credit hours for each fall and spring semester and three credit hours each summer session.
• Once all requirements have been met, except for the final defense and acceptance of the final dissertation, one credit hour of graduate research will be considered as full-time enrollment each semester/session until the degree is completed.
  • Student must submit a Form 5/5A adding the one hour of graduate research before it can be considered full-time enrollment.
• After passing the comprehensive examination and completing all coursework and residency requirements for the doctoral degree, the student must remain enrolled each fall and spring semester and summer session until completion of the degree.

• Students receiving an assistantship must be enrolled full time in each semester/session they receive the assistantship (see definition of full-time enrollment in enrollment tab).