Minimum Degree Requirements

Degree Type1	Minimum Years of Full-Time Study (after a baccalaureate degree)3	Minimum Credit Hours (after a baccalaureate degree)	Additional Degree Specific Requirements
Masters	1	30	Professional Experience and Culminating Element
Master of Philosophy2	1	30	G5 Status and Completion of All Doctoral Requirements with the Exception of the Doctoral Culminating Element
Doctoral (Ph.D. and D.M.A.)	3	60	1 Semester of Teaching Practicum and a Culminating Element

 

1 All students must achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 to receive a graduate degree

2 Note that the Master of Philosophy is a terminal degree and students cannot be awarded the Master of Philosophy and Doctoral Degrees in the same program concurrently.

3 Students must be enrolled at Stony Brook University for at least one semester or two consecutive semesters to earn a masters or doctoral degree, respectively.

Masters degree programs shall require:

• a minimum of one academic year of full-time graduate level study, or its equivalent in part-time study. 
• an accumulation of not less than 30 semester hours. 
• research or a comparable occupational or professional experience as a component of each master’s degree program. 
• at least one of the following: passing a comprehensive test, writing a thesis based on independent research or completing an appropriate special project.

Master of philosophy degree programs shall require:

• completion of all requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy except the final culminating element.
• that the student has been advanced to candidacy in a doctor curriculum offered by the institution conferring the master of philosophy degree.

Doctoral degree programs (including Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Music Arts) shall require:

• a minimum of three academic years of full-time graduate level study after the baccalaureate degree (an accumulation of at least 60 semester hours), or its equivalent in part-time study.
• the completion of at least one semester of practicum in teaching under supervision.
• the production of a final culminating element, such as a substantial report on original research, the independent investigation of a topic of significance to the field of study, the production of an appropriate creative work, or the verified development of advanced professional skills.

Residence Requirement

To be granted a master's degree or an advanced certificate at Stony Brook University, a student must have been admitted to and enrolled in the appropriate degree program for at least one semester.

To be granted a doctoral degree at Stony Brook University, a student must have at least two consecutive semesters of full-time graduate study at Stony Brook University in the program granting the degree.

Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement

A student must achieve a 3.0 overall GPA in all graduate courses taken at Stony Brook University to receive a graduate degree. The student will follow an approved program of courses, which may include foundational courses, and research or professional experiences, determined to meet their needs and to satisfy program requirements. Programs can require satisfactory completion of a course contract. Calculation of the grade point average includes all courses numbered 500 and above taken at Stony Brook University. Temporary grades (I and NR), missing grades, and those grades for which no numerical equivalents are defined (P, S, U, and R) are excluded from the computation.

Stony Brook University Graduate Grading System: See Academic Regulations/Grading System

A graduate student who has changed their primary program may request a restart of their GPA in consideration of a possible waiver of academic probation. The GPA for the new program will be calculated from the beginning of the semester in which the change of program became effective. A graduate student who has graduated and is readmitted into a new degree or advanced certificate program may request a restart of GPA. Program approval is necessary before any restart request is submitted to the Graduate School. Courses taken before the restart of GPA cannot be used towards a second degree or advanced certificate.

Language Proficiency

The Graduate School does not require proficiency in a foreign language for graduate degrees or advanced certificate programs, and individual Graduate Programs oversee their own foreign language requirement and evaluation of proficiency. Students must comply with program requirements. For doctoral students, the proficiency examination must be passed before permission is given to take the preliminary examination and prior to advancement to candidacy.

Teaching Requirements

Students must comply with program specific teaching requirements, which may differ by discipline. All doctoral students at Stony Brook University must complete at least one semester of practicum in teaching under supervision. The teaching experience may include delivering seminar or class presentations, assisting in laboratories, or leading discussion sessions. Grading experience by itself will not be considered sufficient for satisfaction of this teaching requirement. Faculty are responsible for providing informal feedback and formal evaluation.

Following or concurrent with proper training through a teaching practicum, and after having fulfilled other requirements for teaching (e.g., demonstration of English proficiency), a graduate student may serve as a teaching assistant (TA) in courses at Stony Brook University, where the instructor of record is a faculty member.

A graduate student that has been advanced to candidacy may act as the instructor of record for an undergraduate course only if they are appointed to an adjunct faculty position as a lecturer. No student shall be appointed to such a position until they have been advanced to candidacy in a doctoral degree program. It is recommended, not required, that such students be enrolled as full-time status. Appointment procedures follow the same process as regular faculty appointments. Graduate students at G4 level or below cannot be designated as the Instructor of Record for any course offered at Stony Brook University. They can only be appointed as Teaching Assistants. In addition, there must be a designated faculty supervisor who serves as the Instructor of Record for the course. In the absence of any other faculty Instructor of Record for a course, this designation shall revert to the department Chair.

Program Specific Requirements

Each candidate for a graduate degree must satisfy the specific requirements of their program. All program specific requirements are detailed in the Programs section of this Bulletin. 

Waiver of Regulations

The Dean of the Graduate School in individual instances may waive specified requirements. A petition for such a waiver must be endorsed by the Graduate Program Director, who shall append the reasons for believing that the requested waiver would not result in a breach of the spirit of the regulations.