Following are detailed requirements for the master's degree and the doctoral degree:

The Master's Degree

Berkeley offers instruction leading to both academic and professional degrees. For specific regulations governing the professional master's degrees, contact the individual colleges and schools. This section will deal primarily with the academic master's degree.

Academic Residence Requirement

A minimum of two semesters of academic residence is required for the master's degree. Academic residence is defined as enrollment in at least 4 units in 100-200 series courses.

Transfer of Credit from Other Institutions

To request a transfer of units, ask your graduate adviser to make a formal request to the dean of the Graduate Division specifying the units and courses involved. Work that formed part of the program for a master's degree previously conferred (either at the University of California or elsewhere) may not be applied toward a current degree program.

Credit for graduate work that you completed on other campuses of the University of California may be granted in excess of 4 semester units or 6 quarter units. Requests to the graduate dean may be made at the time of advancement to candidacy.

A maximum of 4 semester or 6 quarter units completed in graduate status at an institution outsie the University of California system may be transferable if: (1) the units involved are equivalent to work normally offered within your current program of study; (2) the grade recorded was at least a B; and (3) you have a superior overall scholastic record (at least a 3.3 GPA) at both your original institution and at Berkeley. Nor more than 4 semester or 6 quarter units are transferable, and the work must have been completed previously in graduate status at an institution of high standing. The units transferred cannot be used to reduce the minimum required in the 200-series courses or the minimum residence requirement.

Concurrent Enrollment — UC Berkeley Extension

Courses taken concurrently through UC Berkeley Extension but held on the Berkeley campus under the instruction of a regular member of the Berkeley faculty are generally not applicable toward a Berkeley master's degree.* These courses are intended to provide Extension students with an opportunity to take courses that would not ordinarily be available to them. Concurrent enrollment cannot replace normal registration by Berkeley graduate students, nor may it be used to accumulate credit toward a Berkeley degree by an individual not formally admitted to graduate standing at Berkeley.

Academic Master's Degree Plans

If you work toward an academic master's degree on the Berkeley campus, you will pursue one of two plans, as determined by your school, department, or group. (Units may adopt either or both plans and will, in the latter case, designate which plan you are to follow.)

Plan I requires at least 20 semester units of upper division and graduate courses and a thesis. At least 8 of these units must be in graduate courses (200 series) in your major subject. Course units are not granted for the thesis.

Plan II requires at least 24 semester units of upper division and graduate courses, followed by a comprehensive final examination administered by your school, department, or group. At least 12 of the units must be in graduate courses in your major subject.

Note: Departments, schools, and groups may have performance standards that are higher than the minimum B average required by the Graduate Division. Further requirements are specified by the major department.

The Master's Thesis

If you are following Plan I, described above, you must submit a thesis, according to the strict format described in Instructions for Preparing and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation.

The thesis explicates results obtained in an original investigation of a problem. The problem in question is discreet in scope; however, the thesis should be comparable in style, organization, and depth of understanding to investigations of greater scope, such as the dissertations of doctoral candidates.

You must submit your thesis to a committee of three members of the faculty appointed by the dean of the Graduate Division. The Graduate Division advises that one member of the committee should be chosen from a department other than that of your major subject. You are required to confer with all members of your committee before beginning your thesis; since the committee is not appointed until you are advanced to candidacy, you should not begin thesis work before advancement in order to avoid extensive revisions. You are responsible for placing the completed thesis in the hands of your committee members.

If a thesis is not completed within three years, candidacy for the master’s degree will lapse automatically at the end of that time. You can be reinstated, however, upon the recommendation of the head graduate adviser to the dean at the time your thesis committee members have approved a final draft of your thesis.

If all three members of your committee approve the thesis, they sign your thesis title page. You then file two copies of the thesis with the Graduate Division for later deposit in the University library. If any member of your committee doubts the acceptability of the thesis, the committee chair convenes the committee to discuss it. If the committee reaches agreement on its acceptability, the thesis is signed and filed as described above.

If the committee continues to disagree, the thesis is sent to the dean of the Graduate Division with a brief statement of each committee member’s opinion. If all members of the committee reject the thesis, it is sent to the dean with a statement to that effect by the committee chair. In cases of a split vote, the Administrative Committee of the Graduate Council makes the final decision. For filing deadlines, refer to the Graduate Division's web site.

The Doctoral Degree

Berkeley offers both academic and professional degrees. Professional degree programs are outlined by the colleges and schools offering them. The general procedures given in this section apply primarily to the academic doctoral degree.

The Doctor of Philosophy degree is awarded in recognition of a student's knowledge of a broad field of learning and for distinguished accomplishment in that field through an original contribution of significant knowledge and ideas. The student's research must reveal high critical ability and powers of imagination and synthesis.

Programs of Study

Programs of study for doctoral degrees are more individualized than those for master's degrees, permitting more specialization within a field or the establishment of connections among fields. Nevertheless, if you are seeking a doctoral degree, you must have your program of study approved by the graduate adviser of the department.

Your major department will offer the majority of your coursework but often recommends that you enroll in courses offered by other units that are related to your field(s) of interest. You should confer with your graduate adviser to select the sequence of courses that will best prepare you for the qualifying examinations and your proposed research work.

Academic Residence Requirement

A minimum of two years or four semesters of academic residence is required for the Ph.D. degree. For a joint doctoral degree, a minimum of one year of academic residence is required at each campus. Academic residence is defined as enrollment in at least 4 units in 100-200 courses. The period during which you are allowed to be in candidacy is limited; after its expiration your candidacy for the degree will lapse. You should consult your department or the Graduate Division for the time permitted in candidacy for your major.

Foreign Language Requirement

Your program may have a foreign language requirement which ensures that you have the ability to acquire wide knowledge in your field of study and to keep up with foreign developments in your field. You are urged to complete the foreign language requirement early in your graduate career. You must fulfill the foreign language requirement before admission to the qualifying examinations and advancement to candidacy. If you are a prospective student, you are urged to inquire about the foreign language requirement as soon as possible and, if you can, to fulfill it while still an undergraduate. In some graduate programs, applicants for admission must have satisfied the foreign language requirement before applying.

Qualifying Examinations

Before you are admitted to candidacy, you must pass a qualifying examination administered by a four- or five-member committee approved by the Graduate Council. This oral exam is required. You must be registered in the semester in which you take the examination. To be eligible to apply to take the qualifying exam, you must have removed any previous deficiencies in training, including incomplete grades in courses that your graduate adviser required for your program. You must have at least a B average in all coursework you undertook in graduate status, and you must have fulfilled the language requirement(s).

Note: Departments, schools, and groups may have performance standards that are higher than the minimum B average required by the Graduate Division. They may also require passage of preliminary examinations before a student is eligible to apply for the qualifying examination.

Advancement to Candidacy

You must apply for advancement to candidacy, on a form furnished by the Graduate Division, no later than the semester following the one in which you passed your qualifying examination. For students whose majors are elibible for the Dean's Normative Time Fellowship Program, applications for advancement to candidacy must be submitted by the deadline for this program: the last workday of the fall semester for a fall advancement and June 30 for a spring advancement. The completed form, to be filed with Graduate Services: Degrees, 318 Sproul Hall, is available from the Graduate Division web site. It must bear the endorsement of the head graduate adviser and dissertation chair. Payment of a $90 fee is required when you file the application, and you must have completed all doctoral degree requirements except the dissertation before you may be advanced to candidacy.

Reduced Nonresident Tuition

For graduate students who have been advanced to candidacy for the doctorate, the annual nonresident tuition fee is reduced by 100 percent, subject to the understanding that: (a) graduate doctoral students may receive the reduced nonresident tuition rate for a maximum calendar period of three years; and (b) all such students who continue to be enrolled or who re-enroll after the three-year period will be charged the full nonresident tuition rate that is in effect at that time.

Normative Time-Doctoral Students

Normative Time is the elapsed time (calculated to the nearest semester) that students would need to complete all requirements for the doctorate, assuming they are engaged in full-time study and making satisfactory progress toward their degrees. Normative times for doctoral programs have been recommended by department faculty and approved by the Graduate Council. Normative Time has two components: (1) time from the beginning of the student’s graduate work to advancement to doctoral candidacy; and (2) time in candidacy until the dissertation is filed. Most departments at Berkeley have total normative times of five to six years (10 to 12 semesters).

Calculation of Normative Time in Candidacy

The Graduate Division computes a student’s time in candidacy from the semester following the one in which the student has formally been advanced to candidacy, not simply the semester following the Qualifying Exam. Delays in applying for advancement to candidacy limit the student’s actual time as a candidate and may jeopardize his or her full eligibility for the Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship, if in a qualified major.

The Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship (DNTF)

The DNTF provides an incentive for students in participating programs to advance to candidacy within normative time to advancement and to graduate by the expiration of their major’s normative time in candidacy. For eligibility information, fellowship amounts, and a list of departments and graduate groups that participate in the program and fellowship amounts, see grad.berkeley.edu/policies/dntf.shtml.

The Candidate's Degree

The degree Candidate in Philosophy, which gives formal recognition to a definite state of progress toward the doctorate, may be awarded when you are advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. The list of graduate degree programs that award the Candidate in Philosophy degree is available from Graduate Services: Degrees, 318 Sproul Hall.

Annual Review of Doctoral Candidates

The Graduate Council requires all doctoral students who have been advanced to candidacy to meet annually with at least two members of their dissertation committees to discuss progress during the last year and to set goals for the next. Students who are away from campus may complete the evaluation by mail but must schedule a meeting with committee members to discuss the program made or needed upon return. Departments may use their own form or one developed by the Graduate Division for this purpose. A copy of the evaluation must be forwarded to the Graduate Division, 318 Sproul Hall.

The Doctoral Dissertation

The dissertation, the product of independent investigation under faculty supervision, is the most important requirement for the doctoral program; the degree is never granted for completion of coursework only, no matter how extensive. The dissertation must be submitted to the committee in charge (see below) and must receive its approval. The dissertation must be filed according to the Instructions for Preparing and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation. You are to work under one of two plans, as adopted by the department, school, or group:

Plan A: On behalf of the Graduate Council, the Graduate Division appoints a committee of five Academic Senate members which determines whether you have met the requirements for the degree. Three members of the committee, one of whom must be from a department other than that of your major subject, guide you in research and judge the merits of your dissertation. The entire committee conducts a final oral examination dealing with the relationship between your dissertation and the general field of study in which the subject of the dissertation lies. Admission to the final oral examination may be restricted to the members of the committee, members of the Academic Senate, and guests of equivalent rank from other institutions.

Plan B: On behalf of the Graduate Council, the Graduate Division appoints a committee of three Academic Senate members, one of whom must be from a department other than that of your major subject, to guide you in research and judge the merits of your dissertation. This committee may require any necessary conferences to elucidate the subject treated in the dissertation. After presentation of the dissertation but before final action is taken upon it, the committee may, if necessary, require you to defend the dissertation in a formal oral examination.

After your committee has approved your dissertation, you will file your manuscript with the Graduate Division, 318 Sproul Hall, according to Instructions for Preparing and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation by the deadline specified for the semester by which you wish to receive your degree. At the same time, you must also file an abstract of the dissertation, signed by the committee chair.

See the Master's Thesis section for procedures to be followed if committee members disagree about the acceptability of your dissertation.

Programs using Plan A and Plan B are listed below.

Plan A

• Buddhist Studies
• Interdisciplinary Program

• Logic and the Methodology of Science

• Near Eastern Religions

Plan B

• All other programs not listed above.

Minimum Requirements

All procedures and regulations described above and in the preceding section on master's degrees constitute the minimum requirements for higher degrees, as set by the Graduate Division. Each academic unit may adopt additional requirements, as approved by the dean of the Graduate Division and the Graduate Council, according to the demands of its field of study.