Degree Requirements
The following are WPI’s minimum requirements for advanced degrees. The general requirements for all advanced degrees must be satisfied to earn any advanced degree. The additional requirements for specific degrees must be satisfied in order to earn the specified degree, regardless of the field in which the degree is earned. Please review department requirements for more specific information.
General Requirements for All Advanced Degrees
All degree requirements must be satisfied before the degree is awarded. Exceptions to general and specific degree requirements or to other rules may be made, but only by the Committee on Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR).1 Requests for exceptions are to be made by written petition to that committee.
At the time the degree is awarded, the student must have been admitted to the graduate program of the degree-granting program. Administratively, a degree-granting program may be a department or a program.
A minimum of two-thirds of the required graduate credit for an advanced degree must be earned at WPI.
For the master of mathematics, the student must have a program GPA2 of 2.9 or greater. For all other degrees, the student must have a program GPA of 3.0 or greater.
In applying for graduation, the student must specify by year which graduate catalog contains the rules being satisfied. These rules may be those in place on the date of the student’s matriculation, those in place on the date of the student’s application for graduation, or those in place in a single graduate catalog in effect between the dates of matriculation and graduation.
After the Application for Degree is submitted, all advanced degrees are subject to the final approval of the Registrar’s Office, which determines if the student has satisfied the letter and intent of the requirements for advanced degrees.
The Registrar’s Office submits a candidates list to CGSR who make their recommendations for the approval of advanced degrees to the faculty of the Institute, which in turn recommends to the president and trustees for their final approval the names of students who should be awarded advanced degrees.
Requirements for the master of business administration and master of mathematics for educators appear under the descriptions of the awarding programs.
General Requirements for the Master of Science and Master of Engineering
The student must obtain a minimum of 30 credit hours of acceptable course, thesis or project work.
If a thesis is required by the student’s program, it must include at least 6 credit hours of research directed toward the thesis, in a project resulting in the completion of an M.S. thesis.
A student completing a master’s degree with a thesis option is required to make a public presentation of the thesis. Departments may, at their option, extend the presentation to include a defense of the thesis.
The student must obtain a minimum of 21 credit hours of graduate level courses or thesis (18 credit hours for students in the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Program), including at least 15 credit hours of graduate level courses or thesis in the major field of the student. Other courses (to make up the minimum total of 30 credit hours) may include advanced undergraduate courses approved by the student’s program. Such courses are normally considered to be those at the 4000 level. The use of advanced undergraduate courses for satisfaction of graduate degree requirements must be approved by the student’s program. A 1/3-unit WPI undergraduate course taken for graduate credit is assigned 3 credit hours of graduate credit. A graduate student registered for graduate credit in an undergraduate course may be assigned additional work at the discretion of the instructor.
General Requirements for the Doctorate
The student must demonstrate to the faculty high academic attainment and the ability to carry on original independent research.
The student must complete a minimum of 90 credit hours of graduate work beyond the bachelor’s degree, or a minimum of 60 credit hours of graduate work beyond the master’s degree, including in either case at least 30 credit hours of research.
The student must establish residency by being a full-time graduate student for at least one continuous academic year.
The student must attain status as a doctoral candidate by satisfying specific degree requirements in the student’s field.
The student must prepare a doctoral dissertation and defend it before a Dissertation Committee, at least two of whose members must be from the student’s program and at least one of whose members must be from outside the student’s program. After a successful defense, determined by a majority vote in the affirmative by the Dissertation Committee, the dissertation must be endorsed by those members of the Dissertation Committee who voted to approve it. The completed dissertation must follow in format the instructions published by the library (see page 24). After final approval for format of the dissertation, the Provost will notify the Registrar that the dissertation has been approved.
Once a student has satisfied the departmental candidacy requirements, the student will be permitted to enroll for dissertation credits. Prior to completion of candidacy requirements, a student may enroll for no more than 18 credits of directed research.
In addition to the general requirements established by WPI for an interdisciplinary doctoral degree, applicants must pass a qualifying examination. This examination will test the basic knowledge and understanding of the student in the disciplines covered by the research as is normally expected of degree holders in the disciplines. It must be administered within the first 18 credits of registration in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program. The examination will be administered by a committee of no less than three members, approved by CGSR, representing the disciplines covered by the research. Students are allowed at most two attempts at passing the examination, and may take a maximum of 18 credits prior to passage.
General Requirements for the Combined Bachelor’s/ Master’s Degree Program
Only registered WPI undergraduates may enter the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Program. To enter, a student must submit an application and required support materials to the WPI Graduate Studies and Enrollment Office, preferably in the junior year. Admission to the Combined Program is made by the faculty of the program that awards the graduate degree. A student in the Combined Program continues to be registered as an undergraduate until the bachelor’s degree is awarded.
While in the Combined Program, a student may continue to enroll in courses or projects toward the undergraduate degree; the student may also register for graduate courses, projects, directed research or thesis credits toward the master’s degree.
A student in the Combined Program may, within the program limit and with prior approval, use a limited number of the same courses toward the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The limitation is computed from the graduate credit hours for each course. Courses whose credit hours total no more than 40% of the credit hours required for the master’s degree, and which meet all other requirements for each degree, may be used to satisfy requirements for both degrees. Such courses are recorded on the transcript using the credit hours/ units and grades appropriate at the graduate or undergraduate levels. For students in the Combined Program, approved undergraduate courses are assigned graduate credit with a conversion rate of 1/3 WPI undergraduate unit = 3 credit hours. Graduate courses applied toward the undergraduate degree are awarded undergraduate credit with a conversion rate of 1 credit hour = 1/9 undergraduate unit.
Students in the Combined Program may use advanced undergraduate courses to satisfy graduate degree requirements. The academic department decides which courses may be used in this way. Faculty members teaching these advanced undergraduate courses may impose special requirements.
If the programs awarding the bachelor’s and master’s degrees are not the same, the program awarding the graduate degree may require that the student’s major qualifying project relate in some way to the graduate program’s discipline. The graduate program may also make other requirements as it deems appropriate in any individual case. Additional requirements appear within each department’s section in this catalog.
To obtain a master’s degree via the Combined Program, the student must satisfy all requirements for that master’s degree. To obtain a bachelor’s degree via the Combined Program, the student must satisfy all requirements for that bachelor’s degree.
The time limit for completing the Combined Program varies by department from one to four years. See department description for full information
1CGSR—The Committee on Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR) is concerned with all post-baccalaureate programs of the University, and reviews and recommends changes in WPI policies on goals, student recruitment, admissions, academic standards, teaching and research assistantships, scholarships and fellowships. It also makes recommendations to the faculty and administration on new graduate programs and courses, and changes in programs and courses. The committee acts on admission of graduate students to degree candidacy, dismissal for failure to meet academic standards, and student petitions on academic matters. It brings to the faculty for action the names of students whom it has determined are eligible for post-baccalaureate degrees. The committee reviews and recommends changes in policy on the funding, promotion and conduct of research at WPI.
2GPA—The Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated as the sum of the products of the grade points and credit hours for each registered activity, in the average, divided by the total number of credit hours for all registered activities in the average. Grade points are as follows: A = 4.0; B = 3.0; C = 2.0; D = 1.0; and F = 0.0.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: August 03, 2007 14:25:58