Comprehensive Examination

A written comprehensive exam must be completed toward the end of the completion coursework.  The examination will cover content of all work in the program. Candidates transferring coursework  from other institutions for this program will be responsible for the same knowledge as those whose work has been taken entirely at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Candidates must be registered for coursework (which includes enrollment in reading or independent study courses) or dissertation hours during the semester in which they take the comprehensive exam.

Comprehensive examinations must be scheduled with the Graduate School by submitting an Exam Request Form which lists the committee members. The examining committee is comprised of at least five faculty members. The chair of the examining committee must hold a current, regular membership on the graduate faculty. The other four members must hold regular or special memberships on the graduate faculty. The student must be registered during the semester that the comprehensive examination is taken.

For the Ph.D. degree, comprehensive examinations are scheduled in three four-hour sessions. The comprehensive examination is given three times per calendar year. A student who fails the comprehensive examination may request to be re-examined once after three or more months, the re-examination date to be determined by the examining committee. Under no circumstances may the examination be repeated sooner than three months after a failure. The comprehensive examination may be repeated only once. If a student does poorly on a specific area of the examination, the faculty committee may request that the student prepare for a supplemental exam covering area(s) of deficiency. Results of the comprehensive exam are not reported to the Graduate School until the supplemental exam is completed and the committee reaches a final pass/fail decision.

Comprehensive examinations are to be completed prior to dissertation work.

For more information, contact Nancy Griego at 303-735-0096 or Nancy.Griego@Colorado.edu.