Graduate School: Breadth Requirement in Doctoral Training

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Policy Number:
UW-1200
Responsible Office:
Graduate School

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

This policy establishes the options and requirements for graduate students pursuing a doctoral degree to meet the breadth requirement.

Definitions:
Academic Program
An area of study that leads to a degree/major, certificate, minor or named option, also referred to as a plan or subplan.
Grade Point Average (GPA)
The total number of grade points earned divided by the number of credit hours attempted.
Scope:

Graduate students pursuing PhD degrees in academic programs under the purview of the Graduate School.

Policy:

Breadth is a required component of doctoral training at UW–Madison. Students achieve breadth through a doctoral minor, graduate/professional certificate, or other means as determined by their doctoral major program.

Options include:

  • Option A, External Doctoral Minor
    • Requires minimum of 9 credits in a doctoral minor program (single disciplinary or multi-disciplinary) outside of the student’s doctoral major program.
    • Requires approval of the doctoral minor program.
  • Option B, Distributed Doctoral Minor
    • Requires minimum of 9 credits in one or more programs forming a coherent topic.
    • Requires approval of the student's doctoral major program.
  • Option C, Graduate/Professional Certificate
    • Requires successful completion of a graduate/professional certificate in a program outside of the student's doctoral major program.

To meet the breadth requirement and satisfy the doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate students must:

  • Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.00 across all doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate courses.
  • Enroll in graded (non-audit/pass/fail) courses numbered 300 or above.
  • Limit enrollment to 3 credits of independent study (e.g., 699, 799, 899, 999).
  • Omit research and thesis courses (e.g., 790, 890, 990) as these do not satisfy doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate requirements..
  • Limit credits earned more than five years prior to admission to the doctoral program to 5 credits.
  • Omit credits earned 10 or more years ago as these do not satisfy doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate requirements.

Credits earned towards the doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate may count towards the minimum graduate residence requirement, minimum graduate degree requirement, and the minimum graduate coursework (50%) requirement.

If a program does not require a doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate, a doctoral student who wishes to complete a doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate will have the option to do so in accordance with the program’s admission requirements.

A student cannot earn a doctoral minor and a graduate/professional certificate of the same name.

If a program opts out of a required doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate, it must request approval from the Graduate School.

Related UW-Madison Policies:
Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Dean of the Graduate School
Policy Manager:
Assistant Dean for Academic Planning Analysis and Assessment
Contact:
Assistant Dean for Academic Planning Analysis and Assessment -- Jenna Alsteen, jenna.alsteen@wisc.edu, (608) 262-2433
Effective Date:
09-01-2011
Date Issued:
11-12-2010
Revised Dates:

03-12-2021, 02-10-2023, 02-16-2023, 07-31-2023

Reviewed Dates:

03/12/2021

Retrieved:
07-03-2025 04:23:17