Dissertation Defense

To complete the doctoral program, the student must write and defend their dissertation. The dissertation must be approved by the dissertation committee via the oral defense. 

Oral Defense of Dissertation: Possible outcomes for the dissertation defense are "Pass," "Pass with Revisions," or "Fail." 

• A "Pass" indicates that the student has successfully completed the dissertation and is ready to submit it for graduation. 
• A "Pass with Revisions" indicates that the student needs to complete specific revisions and receive approval from the committee before submitting the dissertation for graduation. 
• A "Fail" indicates that the dissertation needs substantial revisions. The student must schedule another oral defense within 6 months of the original defense, in coordination with the faculty advisor and committee. 

Submitting the Dissertation: After the committee has approved the final draft of the dissertation, the student is required to publish the dissertation in the Proquest Theses and Dissertations database in order to graduate. The student's dissertation chair and the department of Research and Academic Excellence will provide them with guidance about this process. 

Dissertation Committee: The dissertation committee is made up of three members: the student's dissertation chair, one other faculty member from APUS and a member external the student's department. Students are encouraged to seek an external member from outside the institution, but may select an external member outside the doctoral program's school. Qualifications for this person are spelled out in the Dissertation Manual. Each member of the committee must approve that dissertation proposal and the final product.