Comprehensive Exam

• Past comprehensive exam questions
• Comprehensive exam orientation slides

M.S. degree candidates who elect the non-thesis option take a four-hour examination that integrates and focuses the knowledge and experience gained from courses and professional reading. Questions reflect broad educational experiences and require students to integrate knowledge absorbed from the program.
The comprehensive examination must be taken in a student’s final semester. There is no exception to this policy. Graduation forms must be completed and approved during the preceding semester. The Admission to Candidacy form must be completed and approved prior to the examination.
The comprehensive examination committee is composed of three SIS faculty members who serve on a rotating basis. Students register for the examination with the SIS student services coordinator in the semester prior to their final semester. Students will then receive notice of examination details, including the date, time, building, and room number.
Students taking the examination have access to an orientation website that discusses the expectations regarding answers, grading, and how to prepare for and take the examination.
An orientation meeting to the comprehensive exam is held one month before the examination and reviews the procedures for completing the examination, provides information concerning its evaluation, and consequences if the examination is not passed. Previous exam questions are posted on the School’s website.
The examination itself will begin at 9:00 in the morning and will be over at 1:00 in the afternoon. Students may choose to respond using a word processing application on a computer or by writing in blue books. This is a closed book, proctored examination.
You will be asked to answer three of five essay questions. Each of the five questions will be based on intellectual content covered in the core courses as they are currently taught. This is to insure that all students will be able to respond. Obviously, your response is not limited to core course content and you will probably add appropriate material from other courses and experiences to your response. All responses are evaluated on a pass - fail basis. Students who fail will have one additional opportunity to take the examination.
Past examination questions are posted here to insure that all those who take the examination, whether they be at Knoxville or another site, have access to similar information about the examinations. They hope that having these examinations available for review will help students to prepare more effectively for the examination. Please note that each examination is prepared by a different faculty committee so that the questions will vary from examination to examination. However, the type of question is not likely to change.
If you have any questions about the comprehensive examination process, please contact your advisor.

Comprehensive Examination Orientation Presentation Slides

• Coming soon!

Past Comprehensive Exam Questions

• 2004-2008 (PDF, 100 KB)
• 2004 (PDF, 11 KB)
• 2005 (PDF, 32 KB)
• 2006 (PDF, 48 KB)
• 2007 (PDF, 30 KB)
• 2008 (PDF, 20 KB)