How limiting is the Universitys limit of eight years to complete a doctoral program? What happens if a student leaves the program for several years and then comes back?
Yes, students have eight years to complete the program including courses, comps, dissertation, defense, and graduation. That means eight years from the start of the semester in which they first enrolled in the program all the way through to the day they graduate, no matter what the reasons for delay along the way. If additional time is needed beyond that, the Graduate School requires that students request an extension. Extensions are handled through the Associate Dean for External Relations and Student Affairs, who makes a recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School. The advisor needs to fill out an time-extension form (see web page and the back of the Handbook for a copy) and write an accompanying letter requesting the extension. In this letter, the advisor has to make a case that the student is now making satisfactory progress, laying out a timeline for completing the remaining work (with appropriate benchmarks all the way through to graduation), and providing reasons for confi
