Degree Candidacy for Graduate Students
Master’s Degrees and Education Specialist Degrees
William Woods University confers the following types of master’s degrees: Master of Arts (MA) degrees, Master of Science (MS) degrees, Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees, Master of Health Administration (MHA) degrees and Master of Education (MED) degrees. The University also confers the Education Specialist degree (Ed.S.), a master’s plus thirty hour program that builds upon the skills developed in the MED degree.
Students whose progress has brought them to within 9 credit hours of degree program completion are accorded the status of Degree Candidate. The designation is useful in describing student status to employers, prospective employers, certification and licensing agencies, and prospective graduate and professional programs. The status indicates simply that the award of the degree is imminent. Candidacy status also indicates that the Office of the Registrar is conducting the appropriate final reviews to enable a formal recommendation to Academic Affairs that the appropriate degree be recommended to the President and Trustees of the University for issuance at a specific time and place. Admission to candidacy does not imply the degree will be awarded. It implies only that the student has the capacity and capability to complete the final 9 credit hours of instruction and is expected to do so successfully and satisfactorily. Students terminating enrollment within 9 credit hours of degree completion cease, at the time of termination, to be Degree Candidates.
Doctoral Degrees
Doctoral degree programs are designed for students who desire to study at the highest academic levels. Students are accorded the status All but Dissertation (ABD) upon the completion of all core courses, and other program requirements short of the dissertation. Students are accorded the status of Degree Candidate upon successful defense of the dissertation proposal in both written and oral form. Both designations may be useful in describing student status to employers, prospective employers, and certification/licensing agencies. Both statuses indicate that the student is making satisfactory progress towards the completion of their degree. Admission to ABD and Degree Candidate status does not imply that the degree will be awarded. It implies only that the student has the capacity and capability to complete the degree successfully and satisfactorily. Students terminating enrollment or who are suspended/dismissed cease, at the time of termination, to be considered ABD candidates and/or Degree Candidates. Doctoral degrees at William Woods University require students to complete all required coursework in the program and successfully complete the dissertation process for their specific program to be awarded the doctoral degree.