Through this course, doctoral students have the opportunity to integrate their program of study into an in-depth exploration of an interest area that includes the completion of a research study. Students complete the dissertation independently, with the guidance of a dissertation supervisory committee chair and committee members. Students complete a prospectus, proposal, Institutional Review Board application, and final study. Students are registered each term until the successful completion of the dissertation.

Students take this course for a minimum of 20 credits and are continuously enrolled until the completion of their dissertation with final chief academic officer (CAO) approval.

To complete a dissertation, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the chief academic officer. Students must also publish their dissertations on ProQuest before their degree is conferred. Learn more about the dissertation process in the Dissertation Guidebook.