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Ph.D. Program Requirements and Deadlines

Listed below are the major steps that should be completed for a Ph.D. degree in computer science or in computer engineering. Much of this information is taken from the Steps to Fulfill Doctoral Degree Requirements and Steps to Fulfill Preliminary Exam pages on the Graduate and Professional School website.

As noted below, many of the steps have associated graduate and professional school forms that need to be submitted. Information on submitting these forms is available on the Graduate and Professional School website. Forms are now being submitted in ARCS in Howdy with the dissertation being submitted in VIREO. In all cases, the student is responsible for filling them out and correctly submitting the forms.

Ph.D. Student Annual Review

The Ph.D. student annual review process is meant to encourage and motivate Ph.D. student research, allow dissertation committees and the department to monitor student progress, and provide helpful interventions for students when needed.

First year doctoral students are not reviewed. All doctoral students in their second year or later are reviewed annually by the faculty. Students being reviewed are required to prepare and file certain materials for this review by the announced deadline, typically in mid-April. Details are provided on the  Ph.D. Student Annual Review Procedure page.

Advisory Committee and Degree Plan

Ph.D. students must form an advisory committee and file an approved degree plan. Requirements for the composition of the advisory committee and degree plans can be found on the department's Ph.D. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering pages.

  • Graduate and Professional School Form: Online Degree Plan Submission System
  • Deadline: By the end of the student's third semester and at least 90 days before the preliminary exam.

Fundamentals Exam

All beginning Ph.D. students must pass (or waive; see below) a written fundamentals exam, designed to ensure that beginning students have an understanding of basic Computer Science topics. The exam will be offered in each semester, including summer. The months the test is offered each semester may vary, as this is based on the Testing Center’s availability. Typically, the exam is scheduled in March, July, and October. An email from the graduate advising office will be sent each semester with information on the date of the exam, how to register, and other exam data.

Students may attempt the exam a maximum of three times in the first four semesters (including summer) once they enter the Ph.D. program. For example, the first four offerings for a student who starts in fall will be October, February, June and then October. It is strongly recommended that students take the exam as early as they can.

The written exam currently in use is the ETS Major Field Test in Computer Science, which covers standard topics found in an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum. Students should prepare seriously for the exam, rather than just "try it out". The graduate advising office has study materials to help prepare for the exam. They are available for use all year. The test is taken on a computer, with multiple choice questions. A good understanding of calculus and linear algebra will be helpful when taking the exam.

The subjects covered are:

  • Discrete Structures
  • Programming
  • Algorithms and Complexity
  • Systems
  • Software Engineering
  • Information Management
  • Miscellaneous

Although it is a different test, some students have found materials from the discontinued GRE Subject Exam to be helpful in their preparation:

Future fundamentals exam dates (these dates are subject to change):

  • Fall 2025 Semester – October 22, 2025
  • Spring 2026 Semester – March 25, 2026
  • Summer 2026 Semester – July 29, 2026
  • Fall 2026 Semester – October 28, 2026

Students can qualify for a fundamentals exam waiver by earning an “A” grade in one course from each of the three breadth areas (Theory, Software, and Systems).

  • The waiver must be requested by the student no later than the time of their final possible attempt at the fundamentals exam. This generally means they must complete the breadth courses in their first year to possibly get the waiver.
  • If a student has received credit for a breadth requirement by earning an A grade at another university (e.g., from a Master’s degree), that can be used to meet this waiver requirement.
  • Students who met a breadth requirement from an A in a course taken while an undergraduate here at Texas A&M can use that course to meet this waiver requirement.
  • Students can still choose to take the Fundamentals Exam at any time.

Preliminary Exam

The student must pass the preliminary examination given by the advisory committee as described in the graduate catalog. Please consult the procedures for the preliminary exam page for more information on eligibility requirements, and scheduling and administration practices for Ph.D. preliminary exams in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

  • Graduate and Professional School Forms: Preliminary Exam Checklist and Report of the Preliminary Exam are submitted in ARCS.
  • Deadline: As described on the procedures for the preliminary exam webpage, there are eligibility requirements and deadlines for scheduling and reporting on Ph.D. preliminary exams. Roughly, the preliminary exam should be taken at about the time that the degree plan coursework requirements are completed, and it cannot be taken in the same semester that the degree plan is filed or that the student plans to defend.

Dissertation Proposal

The student must submit a Ph.D. dissertation proposal as described in the graduate catalog. The research proposal approval form and proposal paper are to be submitted in ARCS in Howdy. 

If the dissertation research will involve human subjects (or animals, infectious biohazards, or recombinant DNA), then the student must check with the Research Compliance and Biosafety Division to ensure that they have met all compliance responsibilities. A copy of the appropriate approved research compliance approval form must be submitted with the research proposal.

The department has no additional requirements for the proposal beyond that it be approved by the student's advisory committee (as shown by the submission of the signed Proposal and Proposal Approval Page in ARCS) and that it meets any Graduate and Professional School requirements. Thus, students should consult with their advisor for guidance on preparing their proposal. As a rule of thumb, most proposals are about 10 pages long (single-spaced) and include a description of the problem to be studied, an overview of the related work, a brief summary of any preliminary results, and a description of the research objectives and the planned approach.

  • Graduate and Professional School Form: Proposal Title Page
  • Deadline: The department requires that the preliminary exam be passed before the proposal can be submitted. The university requires that the proposal be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School at least 20 business days before the request to hold the final examination form is submitted to the Graduate and Professional School. Precise deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar.

Apply for Graduation

Students need to submit an Application for Degree form in order to graduate.

  • Deadline: Normally in the first one to two weeks of the semester. Late applications will be allowed for an additional fee until later in the semester. Precise deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar.

Final Examination (Dissertation Defense)

The student must pass the final examination (dissertation defense) given by the advisory committee as described in the graduate catalog. Please consult the Procedures for Ph.D. Dissertation Defenses page for more information about eligibility requirements, and scheduling and administration practices for Ph.D. final exams in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

  • Graduate and Professional School Forms: Request for Final Examination is submitted in ARCS. The Report of Final Exam will be sent to the student's advisory committee in ARCS.
  • Deadlines: As described in the Procedures for Ph.D. Dissertation Defenses page, there are eligibility requirements and deadlines for scheduling and reporting on Ph.D. final exams. Final exam deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional School calendar (usually about eight weeks before graduation).

Dissertation

A Ph.D. dissertation must be completed as described in the graduate catalog and on the Graduate and Professional School website. 

The student will need to submit the Dissertation Approval form, along with a Copyright Availability page in ARCS. Then, the student should submit an electronic copy (PDF format) of the dissertation to the Thesis and Dissertation Services Office.

 

  • Graduate and Professional School Forms: Approval Form
  • Deadline: Dissertation submission deadlines are listed on the Graduate and Professional Studies calendar (usually about six weeks before graduation). The dissertation cannot be submitted until after the final examination has been passed. Final corrected copies of the dissertation must be accepted by the thesis clerk no later than one year after the final examination or within the 10-year time limit, whichever occurs first. Failure to do so will result in the degree not being awarded.