Prospective candidates for the doctorate should understand that they ordinarily will not be permitted to proceed to the qualifying examination unless their record in course work shows evidence of distinction. The standard of work required is left largely in the hands of the student's program committee. It is expected, however, that no more than 9 credits offered in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the doctorate, and for which letter grades have been given, shall bear grades of C or C+. Most programs expect graduate students to achieve grades of B or better in all of their courses. The regulations in some programs assume that a student probably should not continue to the doctorate unless he or she demonstrates a capacity to perform with distinction (i.e., grades of A) in at least half of his or her formal studies.
