The Composition and Applied Linguistics Graduate Program is committed primarily to serving professionals who are employed or who have strong promise of employment.
This commitment means that course offerings are arranged to accommodate teaching schedules of secondary, two-year, and four-year college teachers. With this flexibility of scheduling, graduate students can usually pursue their studies without interrupting their careers, or they can take advantage of sabbaticals and leaves to complete course work.
Thirty-six credits of course work are required. Most students complete their course work in three consecutive summers (12 credits each summer) or in two academic years (nine credits each semester for four semesters). Once they begin, students are expected to make steady progress through course work and their dissertations.
For Academic Year (F1 and J1 visa holders) Cohort Students
Academic year cohort students will take three courses in each of the fall and spring terms and may take one course each summer, two with the approval of the doctoral coordinator. The exception to the three courses each semester requirement relates to students' final spring semester when they may take the number of courses required to complete the required 36 hours. Leaves of absence are not permitted as noted in the leaves of absence policy in the Program Handbook.
For Low-Residency Cohort Students
In the first year, Low-Residency cohort students will take two face-to-face courses in summer, one to two remote courses in fall, and the same option in spring. This sequence will repeat until all courses have been completed (36 credit hours). Leaves of absence are not permitted, as noted in the leaves of absence policy in the Program Handbook.
Total Credit Hours: 48 (Including Dissertation)