M.S. Degree The department's graduate program is designed mainly to lead to a Ph D degree. Most students who enter with a bachelor's degree earn a Master's degree after three semesters and one summer. Some of these students have structured their Master's program with some specialization so that they are prepared for employment when they complete the program, but others treat the Master's program as just part of the core program for the Ph D program. The student must do either a research project (Physics 491) or a Master's thesis for the Master's degree. The Master's Program requires 30 credit hours of course work (including the three credits of a research project or six credits on Master's Thesis research)
Ph.D. Degree The Ph D program includes a set of core courses, including some at the advanced graduate level that provide the broad background in physics that is so important in the long run, specialized courses relevant to the research area of the student, and the research for the Ph D dissertation. Students entering with graduate level work at other institutions may include relevant courses taken at the other institutions in their proposal for candidacy, which includes all their course preparation as well as the research proposal for the dissertation.