Ph.D. Program – Policies

The Ph.D. Program is bound by the UW Graduate School policies. Please familiarize yourself with the pertinent Graduate School Policies and all the pertinent policies for “Doctoral Students” listed on that webpage.

Enrollment Requirements

Graduate courses are normally restricted to those designated at the 500 to 800 levels. However, some courses at the 400 level may be part of the graduate program when acceptable to the Doctoral Supervisory Committee and The Graduate School. Approved courses at the 300 level are accepted only in the minor/supporting field in the graduate program, are not included in the calculation of the GPA, and do not apply toward the minimum Graduate School requirement of 18 graded credits for the doctoral degree.

Approved courses at the 400 level may be accepted as part of the major, minor, or supporting field in the graduate program. With the exception of summer, students are limited to a maximum of 10 credits per quarter of any combination of courses at the 600, 700, or 800 level.

Full-time quarterly enrollment for graduate students is 10 credits.

Repeating a Course

Students may repeat any course multiple times but can apply the credits earned only once toward the degree requirement. The first and second grades will be included in the cumulative GPA, whereas all subsequent grades will only appear on the permanent record.

Grading System for Graduate Students

Student grades are entered as numbers with the highest grade at 4.0 (corresponding to an A), followed by 3.0 (corresponding to a B), and 2.0 (corresponding to a C). Grades below 1.7 are recorded as 0.0 and do not qualify for course credits.

A minimum of 2.7 is required in each course that is counted toward a graduate degree.

A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation.

Students are advised to see the complete details and full set of requirements on grades (Numeric, Incomplete, No grade, Satisfactory/Not-Satisfactory, Credit/No Credit, Withdrawal, Hardship Withdrawal), including the UW’s Grading Scale and the respective notes about graduate students.

Final Quarter Registration

Students are required to maintain registration as a full- or part-time doctoral student at the UW in the quarter the doctoral degree is conferred. Students who do not complete all degree requirements by the last day of the quarter must be registered for the following quarter.

Students are advised to see the complete details and full set of requirements online.