Master's students are required to take a single comprehensive examination which may be oral or written.

• If the student and committee agree, an oral examination may be combined with the thesis defense. 
• If the student and committee decide on a written comprehensive exam, or an oral exam separate from the thesis defense, then the student and committee should agree on the areas in which the student will be examined, scheduling for each component (if applicable), the format of the exam, and the testing conditions (e.g., time available per question, open or closed book). These details should be communicated to the student and committee in writing.
  

Students may receive a pass, conditional pass, or fail. In the case of a conditional pass or fail, the committee shall inform the student of the schedule for a resubmission or retake.

After completing the Comprehensive Exam, students are required to submit the "Report on Comprehensive Exam" form, found on our Forms page. 

If the student has any questions, please consult the UAF Academic Catalog and contact the graduate school.

PhD students are required to take both a written and an oral comprehensive examination.

Written Examination

• The form of the written examination is determined by the graduate advisory committee in consultation with the student. The student may contact the graduate school to discuss the form of the examination. The written exam may include an oral follow-up which is part of the written examination.
• The student and committee should agree on the areas in which the student will be examined, scheduling for each component (if applicable), the format of the exam, and the testing conditions (e.g., time available per question, open or closed book). These details should be communicated to the student and committee in writing.

Oral Examination

• The oral examination is a formal defense of the PhD research proposal. An external examiner selected by the graduate school will attend the PhD oral comprehensive examination. 
• It is the student's responsibility to request an outside examiner, not the advisor's or committee chair's responsibility. The request should be made no later than two weeks prior to the exam date.

Students may receive a pass, conditional pass, or fail for either exam. In the case of a conditional pass or fail, the committee shall inform the student of the schedule for a resubmission or retake.

After completing the Comprehensive Exam, students are required to submit the "Report on Comprehensive Exam" form, found on our Forms page. 

If the student has any questions, please consult the UAF Academic Catalog and contact the graduate school.

A student may attempt the written and oral exams a maximum of three times each.  

In the case of a conditional pass, the committee shall inform the student of the scope and schedule for a resubmission of that exam attempt.

In the case of a fail, the committee shall inform the student of the schedule to reattempt the exam.

After completing the Comprehensive Exam, students are required to submit the "Report on Comprehensive Exam" form, found on our Forms page. This is required each time the exam is taken.

Failure to pass the exam within the number of allowed attempts will result in dismissal from the program.