Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog

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Degree Information

The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degrees

In Texas, public colleges and universities are funded by the state according to the number of students enrolled. In accordance with legislation passed by the Texas Legislature, the number of hours for which state universities may receive subvention funding at the doctoral rate for any individual is limited. Texas A&M and other universities will not receive subvention for hours in excess of the limit.

The law affected Texas A&M for the first time in the fall semester of 1994 with a limit of 130 hours. The most recent action by the Legislature in spring of 1997 reduced that limit to 100 hours. This change in state funding became effective in September 1999. However, when the Legislature passed the "cap," it considered the potential loss of funding and voted to allow institutions of higher education to charge the equivalent of nonresident tuition to resident doctoral students who have enrolled in 100 or more semester credit hours of doctoral course work.

The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System has approved a plan for implementing a new tuition structure for students pursuing doctoral degrees at Texas A&M University. The plan approved for Texas A&M University will phase in the tuition increase over a period of four years in order to minimize the possible negative effects for students who are nearing the completion of their doctoral work, and, perhaps, have enrolled in 100 or more semester credit hours of doctoral course work. Please note that the tuition increases will apply to Texas residents as well as students from other states and countries who currently are charged tuition at the resident rate.

In the past, GATs, GANTs and GARs with appointments of 20 or more hours and recipients of competitive fellowships who receive more than $1,000 per semester, have been allowed to pay resident tuition. For the year 2000 and beyond, any graduate student accruing more than the specified credit hours outlined in the Board of Regents Plan is charged nonresident tuition.

The level of subvention funding is affected both by the level of the course and by the status of the student taking the course. It has been the policy of the state to pay the subvention. For example, a doctoral student enrolling in a course that is offered by a department that grants only a masters degree the course would be funded at the masters level. It is important to note that the course does not count towards the 99-hour cap. Courses are classified as undergraduate, master's, doctoral, professional or other according to the highest degrees for which they may be used to satisfy the requirements. The courses classified as "master's" apply only to the master's degree, and they comprise a limited subset of all 600-level courses. The category labeled "professional" includes primarily courses which are offered in the medical or veterinary medicine programs. The category labeled "other" refers to courses such as those offered by the English Language Institute, which cannot be applied to any degree and for which Texas A&M University receives no subvention funding.

Table 1 shows the various course and student classifications. Only doctoral courses taken while in G8 status (the entry in bold) are eligible for doctoral subvention. Therefore, these are the hours subject to limitation. Courses taken in G7 status do not apply even if they are used to satisfy requirements for a doctorate. The level for each course taken is determined by the classification of the student on the twelfth class day of the fall or spring (fourth class day for summer term) semester in which the course is taken, and the university receives subvention based upon this reporting day data. On the class reporting day, the level of each of a student's courses for the given semester becomes fixed and cannot be changed at a later date.

Table 1. Subvention funding levels for various
combinations of student and course status

Course Classification	Student Classification
	U0, U1, U2, U3, U4	U5, G6	G7	G8	G9
Undergraduate	U	U	U	U	U
Master's	U	M	M	M	M
Doctoral	U	M	M	D	M
Professional	U	M	M	M	M
Other	None	None	None	None	None