PhD Timeline to Graduation

All graduate students are expected to be full time students in residence for the 9 months of each academic year.

Students are expected to complete the required coursework, initiate and continue their research, communicate regularly with their faculty advisor, and meet all appropriate deadlines for Advancement to Ph.D. Candidacy. Should an advisor relationship end at any time, students have one quarter to secure a new department faculty advisor to continue in the program.

Key Program Reminders:

1. Students must maintain a minimum of 12 units/quarter to be eligible for financial support.
2. Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or they will be placed on Graduate Division probation. Students with 12 or more units of "U/F" will have a hold placed on their accounts.
3. Students are expected to meet departmental timeline milestones as outlined below. Failure to do so may impact financial support and could affect continued enrollment in the program.
4. Petitions:
   • Department petitions for exceptions or extensions to deadlines may be approved for a good cause. Petitions must be submitted well in advance of a deadline to Graduate Program Coordinator for review by Graduate Vice Chair.
   • Retroactive University Petitions for the Academic Senate. As of 2023, the department will only approve retroactive petition submissions to the Academic Senate if a student has documentation of extreme personal circumstances (e.g. hospitalization) or system technical errors that prevented them from meeting UCSD deadlines.