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Normative Support, Residency, and Time to Degree Policy

 

California Residency Expectation

Nonresident US students are expected to gain California residency after their first year. Continuing financial support is dependent on meeting this expectation.

Departmental Support Policy

All admitted graduate students are guaranteed support for up to fifteen quarters (five academic years). Financial support is contingent upon full-time registration (twelve units or more per quarter), making satisfactory progress toward degree completion, and being in good academic and employment standing. A typical funding package consists of tuition, health insurance, and student fees, plus a combination of student employment and/or stipend that equates to the salary of a 50% TA or GSR position over nine months. Students may apply for research travel support and summer teaching opportunities (especially after passing the qualifying exam). Employment during summer session does not count toward quarter limits, but employment for the colleges or elsewhere on campus during the academic year does count toward the above department support limits.

Note: Employment during Summer Session does not count towards these limits, but employment for the Colleges or elsewhere on campus during the academic year does count toward the above department support limits.

International students, if admitted at the doctoral level, must advance to candidacy by the end of their third year. Departmental funding is dependent on meeting these expectations.

 

Time to Degree Policy

  1.  All applicants admitted to the graduate program will be officially entering the PhD or DMA program with the prospect of completing a doctoral degree. 
  2.  Each graduate program has area-specific requirements constituting a “preliminary exam” that takes place during fall of the student’s second year. The purpose of the preliminary examination is to evaluate a student’s potential to succeed in the program and their command of content presented in the first year of course work. If the participating professors unanimously agree that the student has not passed the exam, then the student will be allowed to finish the second year and to submit MA completion requirements but will not be allowed to continue with the doctoral program. 
  3.  All students are expected to advance to candidacy (i.e., qualify) by the end of their third year of graduate study. 
  4.  Departmental funding is dependent on meeting all of the above expectations. Students who do not comply with the above policy may be ineligible for their final three quarters of support.
  5. If final approval from all members of a student’s qualifying or dissertation committee is not obtained, students will either not be allowed to continue in the program or will be placed in a one-quarter probationary period and asked to redo aspects of the completion requirements. If a student fails to gain final approval during this probationary period, they will not be allowed to continue in the program and will receive no further funding or support.

UC San Diego Time to Doctorate Policy

The time period in which doctoral students, under usual circumstances, are expected to complete the requirements for the degree is five years. In addition, the Department of Music Time to Doctorate policy includes maximum registered time in which a student may advance to doctoral candidacy (four years), maximum time during which a doctoral student is eligible for support (six years), and maximum registered time in which a student must complete all doctoral requirements (six years).