PhD Program Structure
PhD in Business Administration
The program consists of a minimum of 30 hours of coursework and a minimum of 10 hours of dissertation work for individuals who have an appropriate master’s degree. A candidate who enters the PhD program with only a bachelor’s degree will need a minimum of 57 hours of graduate coursework to complete the PhD program. There is no foreign language requirement.
Student enrolling in the PhD program in business administration select a major field of study from one of the following business areas: accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing, real estate, and risk management and insurance. Students are also required to select a minor field and obtain a competency in research methodology. The minor field and research methodology courses may be chosen from inside or outside the Terry College of Business. The research apprenticeship, composed of three hours of coursework, is also taken under the guidance of a major professor and involves research-oriented activities that help the student develop skills needed to undertake a dissertation.
Following the completion of the coursework, comprehensive preliminary examinations, both written and oral, are required. These examinations are administered by the graduate faculty in each area of the student’s program of study. The written exam tends to focus on the student’s knowledge of the major field and research methods. The oral examination assesses the integration of the technical competencies in the foundation, the major and minor fields, and the research methodology. A dissertation completes the program. The PhD Dissertation-Advisory Committee works with the student on all aspects of the dissertation study.
Students interested in learning more about the PhD program structure and plan of study for a particular area can use the links provided above. These links also serve as a portal to information provided by the individual areas.
PhD in Economics
The program consists of a minimum of 30 hours of coursework and a minimum of 10 hours of dissertation work for individuals who have an appropriate master’s degree. A candidate who enters the PhD program with only a bachelor’ degree will need a minimum of 57 hours of graduate coursework to complete the PhD program. There is no foreign language requirement.
The PhD in economics provides in-depth, rigorous training in economic theory and econometrics and prepares students for careers in research, teaching, and consulting in academia, private industry, and government. The program offers fields of specialization in econometrics, industrial organization, international economics, monetary/macro economics, public economics and labor economics, and also has strengths in productivity analysis and economic history.
To earn a PhD in economics, a student must:
- complete a minimum of 57 semester hours of coursework, including required courses in micro and macroeconomic theory, econometrics and research skills,
- pass written comprehensive (preliminary) exams in micro and macroeconomic theory and one field of specialization, and
- write and defend an acceptable dissertation.
The department also offers a MA degree; however, there is not an independently operating terminal MA program. The MA curriculum is exactly the same as that corresponding to the first year of the PhD program. Consequently, the typical MA recipient is someone who enters the graduate program as a prospective doctoral student, but later decides against pursuing the PhD.
Students interested in learning more about the PhD program structure and plan of study in economics can use the link provided above. This link also serves as a portal to information provided by the Department of Economics.
