After passing the Qualifying Examination, the student submits via CalCentral an application for
advancement to candidacy to the PhD. Review and approval by the Graduate Advisor and Graduate
Division will occur online. The application should be filed no later than the end of the semester following
the one in which the student passed the qualifying examination.
Students who advance to candidacy within the normative time to advancement (10 semesters) may be
eligible for a Graduate Division Dean's Dissertation Completion Fellowship (DCF) (see Appendix 3B
below). The student should be aware of the earlier advancement to candidacy deadline for the DCF and
may not qualify for it if scheduling the exam in the summer months.
Nonresident students who have been advanced to candidacy are eligible for a 100 percent reduction of the
annual nonresident supplemental tuition (NRST) fee for a maximum period of three calendar years if they
advance to candidacy by the fee reduction deadline. The application for advancement to candidacy must be
received by Graduate Degrees by the first day of instruction of the semester for which the reduced tuition
is assessed. For the reduced fee to be reflected on the CARS billing statement, however, students should
apply for advancement at least 6-8 weeks before the beginning of the semester to allow sufficient processing
time.
The three-year period for NRST reduction is calculated from the semester subsequent to the students’
advancement, whether registered or not. Any student who continues to be enrolled or who re-enrolls after
the three-year period will be charged the full nonresident tuition rate that is in effect at the time.
Candidacy for the AHMA doctorate is valid only for a limited time. AHMA’s normative time in candidacy
is two years (four semesters). Their candidacy will lapse if students do not complete the dissertation within
that time, plus a two-year grace period. Moreover, Graduate Division usually will not accept coursework
or qualifying examination results more than five years old as representing current knowledge unless the
student gives other evidence of continuing scholarly activity besides research for the dissertation.