Program completion times vary. It strongly depends on how quickly a student progresses through both coursework and research.
These are some guidelines:
Master’s Program: Full-time M.S. students can often finish in four-to-five semesters, depending on whether they are pursuing the thesis or non-thesis option.
Doctoral Program: Full-time Ph.D. students who already have a master’s degree can typically finish in three-to-four years, depending on their research progress. Full-time doctoral students who enter directly after earning their bachelor’s degrees can typically finish in five-to-seven years depending on their research progress. Students must also consider how long it will take to conduct their dissertation research. Part-time students will require more time than indicated above.
Tip: The most efficient way to pursue the Ph.D. program is to have an idea for a dissertation topic upon admission. Then, fuse the topic into papers/assignments for each course to build a literature review and other future dissertation chapters.
Visit our degree pages for more details on minimum credit hour requirements for your degree of interest.