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Holy Family

Full-Time Status and Continued Enrollment

After a doctoral student is admitted to the program, that student is expected to maintain continuous enrollment during the Fall, Spring and Summer terms throughout the doctoral degree program. Doctoral students who take six credits during each of the Fall and Spring semesters and three credits during each of Summer Session I and Summer Session II are considered full-time. Because of the sequencing and developmental nature of the program, it is advantageous to take the courses as scheduled to insure progression and timely program completion. If the student is unable to adhere to the schedule, he or she would apply to the advisor, the Program Director, and the Doctoral Academic Policies Committee for approval to take only one course a semester with the understanding that this would extend the time necessary to complete the program. Taking three credits a semester would place the student in the half-time category.

The typical full-time student completes 54 semester hours of work over the course of the first three years of the program. After the candidate passes the comprehensive exams, then they enroll in EDDC 901 and EDDC 902: Doctoral Dissertation until the completion, defense, and approval of the dissertation by the doctoral committee, Director of the Doctoral Program and the Dean. The six credits of EDDC 901 and EDDC 902 brings the minimum total number of credits for the program to 60 credits.

The program is designed to enable candidates to complete their coursework in three years and typically at least one year is devoted to the completion of the dissertation. If a candidate requires more time to complete the dissertation, he or she must continually enroll in the course, EDDC 999: Doctoral Dissertation, for a minimum of three credits each Fall and Spring semester. Doctoral degree students have a maximum of seven years from the initial semester of coursework to complete the entire program including the successful defense of the dissertation. Requests for extension of that time must be justified in writing and approved by the Director of the Doctoral Program and the School Dean. No extensions will be granted after ten years.