Graduate Degrees specifies the university’s general requirements for the PhD.

The PhD degree is awarded after completing a minimum of 135 units of graduate work, satisfactory completion of any additional university requirements, and the following departmental requirements.

All students in the Ph.D. program are required to register Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer quarters. All students must register for exactly 10 units in Autumn, Winter and Spring Quarters and exactly 3 units in Summer Quarter until they advance to Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status (135 units), unless otherwise instructed by the department; for instance, those with specific fellowships, will need to be enrolled in 10 units all four quarters. Completing each year’s general requirements listed below is required for satisfactory progress toward the degree. Students not making satisfactory degree progress are subject to departmental academic review and/or dismissal.

The university requires all Ph.D. students to complete at least three units of work with each of four Stanford faculty; the Oceans department requires that at least two of these courses be taken for a letter grade. These units of work can include lectures, labs, seminars, teaching, research, directed readings and independent study. In order to advance to candidacy, coursework must be completed by the end of the second year of graduate study.

Minimum Grade Requirement

If offered, any course that satisfies the PhD degree requirements must be taken for a letter grade. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above is required for all courses. An overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 must be maintained.

OCEANS-PHD - Oceans (PhD)

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Program Overview

Director of Graduate Studies