Master's Degree Special Requirements

Master's Comprehensive Examination

Many programs require a Master's Comprehensive Examination. Examinations are held on dates fixed by the departments. If you fail to pass the Master's Comprehensive Examination you may, with the approval of the department, repeat the examination at the next scheduled examination date. If your department does not approve of a second attempt, you will be academically dismissed from your program. If you fail a second time, no further opportunity to take the examination is permitted, and you will be dismissed from your program.

Thesis

Many programs require the completion of a master's thesis. The main purposes of a master's thesis are to demonstrate your ability to make independent use of information and training and to furnish objective evidence of constructive powers in a chosen field.

If your thesis research involves human subjects, you must obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval before collecting data. Please consult the section on Human Research Requirements for more information.

Thesis Courses

Students register for 3-6 credit hours of Thesis Research courses. Thesis Research courses will be assigned a grade of IPG (In Progress) until your thesis is submitted and approved. Once complete, your These Research courses are assigned a grade of CR (Credit). No letter grade is given for your thesis.

Thesis Director

Registration for Thesis Research courses entitles you to the advice of the member of the faculty under whose direction the thesis is to be written. The faculty members who will direct the thesis must approve the thesis subject. If your Director is external to GW and has been approved by your department, you must have a GW faculty member serve as Co-Director.

Final Examination

The Final Examination or Thesis Defense is designed, scheduled, and administered by your department. It is an oral examination conducted by the Thesis Committee, which consists of your Director and one Reader at a minimum. Your current or prospective immediate supervisor of employment is not permitted to be a Reader. Please consult with your department for any additional guidelines for your thesis defense.

Thesis Submission

Full details about the Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) submission process, submission deadlines, and formatting requirements are available on the Master's Thesis ETD Submission page. A summary of the submission process is included below.

Once you have successfully completed the Final Examination and the Thesis Committee has verified that any required revisions to the thesis have been made, you must complete the following steps:

1. Upload your thesis through the ProQuest ETD Administrator Platform
2. Submit the advisor-signed ETD Access Approval Form

These materials must be submitted by the deadline for the semester in which you are graduating. If you do not submit the required materials by the deadline, CCAS will not be able to process your graduation, and you will be considered for graduation in the following semester. 

All theses must meet the formatting and other requirements set forth on the ETD website. The guidelines are designed to produce documents that are uniform in style, but they also allow for the particular requirements of various disciplines.

After you upload your thesis, it will be sent to CCAS for final approval. You may receive instructions from CCAS to make changes and upload a revised edition of your work. Any requested changes must be submitted by the University ETD Deadline in order for you to be able to graduate in the current semester. Once CCAS can approve your thesis, you will be notified by email. CCAS will then deliver your ETD to ProQuest for publication.

You must pay any ProQuest fees directly online. The amount charged will depend on the publishing options you choose. GW recommends students choose the Open Access option in the interest of making their scholarship as accessible as possible.

Accepted theses and any accompanying illustrations become the property of the University and are housed in the institutional repository, GW ScholarSpace. The University is to be given credit for material used in the publication of any portion of your thesis, whether as a direct quotation or as an adaptation.