comprehensive exams

In higher education, a comprehensive examination (or comprehensive exam or exams), often abbreviated as "comps", is a specific type of examination that must be completed by graduate students in some disciplines and courses of study, and also by undergraduate students in some institutions and departments. Unlike final examinations, comprehensive examinations are not linked to any particular course, but rather test knowledge across one or more general fields of study.

Graduate-level comprehensive examinations are sometimes also known as preliminary examinations ("prelims"), general examinations ("generals"), qualifying examinations ("quals"), or as major field examinations. If these examinations are held orally, they may be known colloquially as "orals". The comps most commonly come after the student has completed required coursework and before starting on the dissertation; successful passage of the comps is sometimes required for a student to be considered a "Ph.D. candidate".

The form and general requirements for the comprehensive exam vary according to the faculty or department, degree sought, university, and country, but typically tests knowledge of the student's subject area and two or more related areas, and may be used to determine a candidate's eligibility to continue his or her course of study. At the graduate level, the purpose of the comprehensive exam is to ensure the student is familiar enough with her area of research to make original contributions.

There is no standard definition for what such exams entail, with some universities having almost no exam, whilst at other universities the process is quite rigorous. The exams thus take a number of forms, including an informal meeting of just a few hours, a critical review of one's academic portfolio, the submission of an academic paper which may take several hours or months to write, or a series of proctored exams taking anywhere from a few hours to a week.

The comprehensive examination system is used primarily in US and Canadian higher education, but it has also been adopted by some programs in other countries such as Pakistan and India. Other countries use alternative forms of evaluating Ph.D. candidates: in the United Kingdom, for example, students typically must first enroll in an M.Phil. program and are then admitted to doctoral study only upon successfully defending their research proposal.

Undergraduate

Some colleges or universities in the United States require undergraduate students to pass comprehensive examinations in order to receive their degree. These include Wabash College, Kenyon College, Bethany College, The Catholic University of America, The University of Iowa, Maryville College, Occidental College, Reed College, The University of the South, Eckerd College, Millsaps College, Earlham College, Hanover College, Rosemont College, St. Anselm College, Shimer College, Whitman College, and University of Dallas

Many degree programs require students to pass comprehensive examinations within colleges or universities that don't otherwise require them. The same is true for many schools and colleges within larger universities. These include Texas A&M-Commerce Honors College, The University of Virginia's Politics Honors Program, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Mass Communications program.

Graduate

Master's

In some terminal non-thesis Master's programs, successful completion of a comprehensive examination, conducted online or through the university's testing center, is a requirement for graduation during a student's last semester of coursework. A prominent example of such is the Major Field Test for Master of Business Administration (MFT-MBA) which has been used in the MBA programs of over 300 U.S. universities.

A comprehensive exam may also be required for a master's degree earned on the way to the completion of a doctoral program. In such cases, students might take an oral exam and/or field exam in order to both earn a Master's in their field and advance to the status of doctoral or PhD candidate. Typically, one exam will question the student on theory while the other will show competency or expertise in their chosen subfield (or major field) within their program. This also allows students enrolled in the program who do not wish to continue to the completion of a doctoral degree to leave early and in good standing with a Master's.

Doctoral

In most doctoral programs, students must take a series of written cumulative examinations on the subject of their study in the first year or two of the PhD program. These