{"id":3268,"date":"2026-02-09T14:49:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/policy\/?post_type=library&#038;p=3268"},"modified":"2026-03-11T16:01:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:01:33","slug":"doctoral-preliminary-examination-time-limit","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/policy\/library\/doctoral-preliminary-examination-time-limit\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctoral Preliminary Examination\u00a0Time Limit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"uwm-l-row uwm-l-row--4\">\n<div class=\"uwm-l-col uwm-l-col--3\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"policy\">Policy<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"uwm-l-col\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I. Current Policy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>None<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">II. Proposed Policy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list uwm-c-list--upper-alpha\">\n<li>Establish a time limit of 5 years from initial enrollment in a doctoral program to pass the preliminary examination(s)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allow a one-year extension for extenuating circumstances<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">III. Rationale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy is intended to encourage progress toward degree, decrease the number of appeals of the 10-year time limit for degree completion, and lead to better advising and more economical plans of study. The five year mark is a reasonable combination of the previous time limit (completion of degree within 5 years of passing the preliminary exam) and the current limit of 10 years to degree completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To date, there are 18 students who have been granted extensions to the 10-year time limit. Of these, 13 took more than 5 years to pass the doctoral preliminary examination. Average time to pass the preliminary exam was 6.7 years for the time extension group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among currently enrolled students who are near the time limit, there are 10 students who have completed at least 8 years of enrollment and have not yet passed the preliminary examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">IV. Procedure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list uwm-c-list--upper-alpha\">\n<li>The Graduate School will send students who have not passed the preliminary examination(s) within 4 years of initial enrollment in a doctoral program a warning letter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Graduate School will drop students who have not passed the preliminary examinations within 5 years of initial enrollment in a doctoral program.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under extenuating circumstances, the Graduate School will consider an appeal for a one-year extension. The major professor and the doctoral program representative must support the appeal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Students who are dropped for failure to pass the preliminary examination within the 5-year time period will no longer be able to register as a student in the doctoral program.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">V. Recommendation for Action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list uwm-c-list--upper-alpha\">\n<li>The proposed policy is approved as reflected in the document above.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This requirement is effective for students who begin a doctoral program during Semester I, 2000-01 and thereafter.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[17,50],"topic":[22],"class_list":["post-3268","library","type-library","status-publish","hentry","category-faculty","category-faculty-general","topic-academics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Doctoral Preliminary Examination\u00a0Time Limit - Policy Library<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/policy\/library\/doctoral-preliminary-examination-time-limit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctoral Preliminary Examination\u00a0Time Limit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/policy\/library\/doctoral-preliminary-examination-time-limit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Policy Library\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T21:01:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/policy\\\/library\\\/doctoral-preliminary-examination-time-limit\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/policy\\\/library\\\/doctoral-preliminary-examination-time-limit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Doctoral Preliminary Examination\u00a0Time Limit - 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