The Sociology Department offers a Doctorate (PhD) and a Masters (MA), but these two degrees are part of one seamless graduate program in which all students are working towards a PhD and admitted directly to the PhD program. The Masters degree and its requisite requirements are all requirements for the PhD. (Students who already have a Masters degree when they enter the program typically use courses from their prior degree to fulfill some IU course requirements for the PhD.) 

Progression through the program can be divided into two main stages: an early, more structured stage and a later, candidacy stage. In the early stage, students are working towards three milestones, completing required coursework, an empirical paper (formerly known as the MA paper or essay), and a qualifying exam.

After completing these early milestones, students become PhD candidates and are considered “ABD” – “all but dissertation.” The two milestones for this later, candidacy stage include the dissertation proposal defense and dissertation defense. PhD candidates spend most of their time between these milestones, collecting and analyzing data for the dissertation and writing it up.

Students typically take seven to eight years to earn the PhD. To help student students meet this long-term goal, there is a timeline for when milestones should be completed along the way. The first milestone is the empirical paper, which students are expected to complete in their second year. Students should finish required coursework and take the qualifying exam in their third year. Students formally become candidates in their fourth year and should defend their proposal by their fifth year.

This timeline incorporates flexibility, which allows for different paces and contingencies. Periods of timely progress, which are the expected times for completing a milestone are shown in green. Periods of acceptable progress are in yellow. Periods that are the last acceptable time to complete a milestone while remaining in good academic standing are shown in red. Students who do not complete milestones before the end of these red semesters may be placed on academic probation and are at risk of losing department funding.

All requirements for the MA and PhD degrees appear in the Sociology entry of the Graduate School Bulletin. University-wide rules that apply to all graduate degrees at IU Bloomington are also provided in the front end of the Graduate Bulletin. The Bulletin is updated on an annual basis and any changes in degree requirements are integrated into the Sociology entry of the Bulletin.