Advancement to candidacy is a formal benchmark that signifies that a student has completed his or her course work and is at the dissertation writing stage of the program. The Graduate School requires all PhD students to advance to candidacy within five years of starting the program, and at least six months before the date on which the PhD will be conferred. Most of our students are eligible to advance to candidacy by the end of their second year.

Candidates are automatically registered for 6 credits of Econ 899 each semester, regardless of funding status, at a reduced candidacy tuition rate. Funded students can use additional credits of tuition reimbursement on workshops or other classes; for further information on registration guidelines, click here.

The Department requirements for advancement to candidacy are as follows: students must have passed both comprehensive exams at the Ph.D. level, must have satisfied the major field requirements in one field and the minor field requirements in a second field, and must have completed all other course requirements, including the econometrics requirement and the supporting course requirement. Students do not need to have satisfied their workshop requirements prior to advancement to candidacy, but must have a plan in place to do so.

Students who wish to advance to candidacy must fill out both a department worksheet and an application from the graduate school, and submit these to Vickie Fletcher. For the department worksheet, click here. The Graduate School form is available from the Graduate School website.