Doctoral Candidacy
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At APU, Doctoral Candidacy is defined as a condition for students to be eligible to submit their dissertation for screening. Submission Requirements to become a doctoral ‘candidate’ differ depending on a student’s enrollment year. Once candidacy is achieved, the student is registered as a candidate for the award of the Doctoral degree and is eligible to submit their dissertation for screening.
Candidacy Submission Requirements
Enrollment date: Fall 2021 or earlier
- Acquisition of 24 credits
- Two (2) research papers written individually while enrolled in the Doctoral Program.
- Submission of the designated application form
Enrollment date: Spring 2022 or later
- Passing the Dissertation Proposal Defense
- Passing the Pre-candidacy Oral Examination
- Acquisition of 24 credits
- Submission of dissertation chapters (Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings/Results, and Discussion)
- Submission of the designated application form
Students enrolled in the 3-year standard completion program are expected to complete the credits required for candidacy application by the end of their 4th semester while those enrolled in the 2-year accelerated completion program – by the end of their 2nd semester.
Students are encouraged to submit additional papers (such as published journal articles, conference papers, or papers written as part of the classes Research Paper I and II) to show that they have the potential to advance in their field.
Candidacy Screening Schedule
Students can apply for Candidacy at any given time within the semester if they fulfill the requirements. If aiming for notification of result within the same semester, students are advised to follow the below deadlines.
| Spring Semester | Fall Semester | |
|---|---|---|
| Submission | By July 5 | By January 10 |
| Notification of Result | By August 10 | By February 10 |
Candidacy applications will be screened by the Dissertation Committee and students will be notified of the screening result.
