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All MA students must pass a final exam, in addition to completing all required coursework, in order to receive the MA degree. For students who elect to write an MA thesis, the oral defense of the thesis counts as their final exam. Students who do not write a thesis must pass a four-hour written comprehensive written examination covering five subject areas corresponding to the five required MA courses: phonetics, phonology, morphology/syntax, semantics/pragmatics and diachronic linguistics. The MA comprehensive is given once per semester; the fall sitting is in November while the spring sitting is in February. The graduate assistant will inform students of the exact dates each semester, and students will be asked to sign up for the exam sitting. The exam is administered in a computer lab on campus, and completed exams are submitted electronically.

Students typically take the exam in the last semester of MA study. The student must be registered for the semester in which the exam is taken. Sample exams are available from the Department office. The Department encourages students to form MA comprehensive exam study groups.