Candidate of Philosophy - in The United States

In The United States

The usual practice in the United States is for a graduate student working toward a doctorate to earn a Master's degree (usually Master of Arts or Master of Science) in course after about two years of coursework. In a very few universities, a student who has completed all of the coursework, all of the comprehensive examinations in the subject and all of the language examination requirements, and whose dissertation topic has been approved - in short, who has fulfilled all requirements for the doctorate except the writing and defense of the dissertation itself - may be awarded a Master of Philosophy degree, beyond the Master of Arts or Master of Science already earned. In other universities, such students used the informal designation of Ph.D. (ABD), for "All But Dissertation," not an actual degree but an informal convention.

The University of California began offering the Candidate in Philosophy degree in the early seventies, but most campuses discontinued the practice before the end of that decade; however, it is still offered at some UC campuses, such as the University of California, Santa Barbara and San Diego, where it may be awarded within one year of advancing to candidacy.

Very few schools actually designate such students Candidatus Philosophiae or Candidate in Philosophy, abbreviated C.Phil. as a formal status.