All students are admitted directly to the sociology Ph.D. program and must complete M.A. requirements as part of the Ph.D.  Students are awarded the M.A. degree enroute to the Ph.D., unless they already have an M.A. in sociology from another institution when admitted to the Ph.D. program.

Admission to the Sociology Ph.D. program requires:

• Completion of the bachelor’s degree at a recognized institution, with a GPA of 3.3 or better
• Admissions application form
• Personal Statement
• Three letters of recommendation
• Writing Sample
• Curriculum vitae or current resume
• Official transcripts

The Ph.D. requires 90 credit hours of course work, of which up to 30 hours may be Ph.D. thesis credit (S869), including the 30 hours counting toward the M.A.

Required courses include:

• those for the M.A. degree
• S500, S501, S502 (Pro-seminar in Sociology)
• S530 and S540 
• S558 (Advanced Research Techniques)
• S554 (Statistical Techniques in Sociology I)
• S650 (Statistical Techniques in Sociology II)
• one advanced methods course (S651 or S652)
• two 600-level substantive courses
• one offering of S700
• one elective course (chosen from the S500, S600, or S700 level)

With the permission of the director of graduate studies, this elective may be satisfied by S864 (Independent Readings) S866 (Independent Research) or by a course from outside the department which are approved for graduate credit (these credits may not be used to fulfill the outside minor requirement).

You must maintain a GPA of at least 3.50 for all coursework, and no grade below a B in Sociology will count towards the Ph.D. degree. Required courses that fail to meet this minimum grade standard may be retaken once, if necessary.

You may receive graduate credit for the 400-level courses that are listed in the Graduate School Bulletin, with permission of the instructor and of the director of graduate studies. Graduate students in such a course will be expected to achieve an appropriately higher level of performance than undergraduates also taking the course.

The outside minor must be chosen from an approved list. Currently-approved minors include: African studies, Afro-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, business, cultural studies, demography, economics, education, geography, history, history and philosophy of science, human sexuality, Latin American and Caribbean studies, law, linguistics, mathematics, political science, population studies, psychology, religious studies, social science approaches to health and healing systems, social science research method, West European studies, and women's studies.

A field not listed may be chosen with the approval of the director of graduate studies. Requirements for the minor are set by the outside department, but usually range from 9-15 hours of course work.

To qualify for candidacy, you must demonstrate basic proficiency in sociological methods, either by achieving a GPA of 3.50 or above in the required statistics and methods course sequence (S554, S558, S650, one advanced methods course) or by passing a qualifying examination in methodology.

You must pass a written qualifying examination in a research specialty of your choosing. Contact the graduate secretary for details about this examination.

It is expected that these two requirements be completed by the beginning of the fourth year in the program.