Academic Norms for Doctoral Programs

Maintenance of Active Status in Doctoral Programs

Doctoral students completing the course requirements before passing the comprehensive examination or completing their dissertation must enroll each academic term in the corresponding Dissertation or Continuation of Dissertation course, until the dissertation has been approved.

Residency Requirements for Doctoral Programs

Students in doctoral programs, except those in psychology or education, must complete at least fifteen (15) credits of the corresponding doctoral program in two successive academic terms (two terms or one term and the two summer sessions) at Inter American University. For the doctoral program in psychology, students must complete a minimum of 60 percent of their courses at Inter American University. They must also complete one year of residence as full-time students or its equivalent. The doctoral degree in education does not have a residency requirement.

Comprehensive Examination Requirements for Doctoral and Specialist Programs

To achieve the candidacy to the degree, all doctoral students must pass a comprehensive examination after having approved at least 30 credits. Nine (9) of these credits must be from core required courses and 21 credits in the selected doctoral program.

Academic programs or specialties in the area of Natural Sciences with a strong curricular component in research (with a minimum of 15 credits) will substitute the comprehensive exam for the defense of the dissertation proposal that will be presented after having completed the specialty and investigation courses.

Expiration Norm for Doctoral Program Courses

No work for academic credits realized more than ten (10) years before, will be considered for the purpose of obtaining the doctoral degree. The courses to which this expiration norm is applied will appear in students’academic records, but they will not be considered for the grade point index.