Students take a minimum of 36 credits or 12 courses in addition to any prerequisites that might be necessary. Seven of these course are part of the core and five are concentration courses. Required courses generally will be available on an evening or week-end schedule. Course work in the Ph.D. program has a strong orientation toward research, both applied and theoretical. Where appropriate, course work may be linked to funded university projects or to external agency based analytic work.
Courses emphasize research, writing, and presentation skills.
In addition to the core, all students will take five courses in their selected area of concentration. The remaining four courses will be selected from a list designated by the Concentration Committee for each area. At least one of these must be a methodologically oriented course relevant to the student's area. The Concentration Committee will approve the program of study for each student in the concentration. Qualifying Examination Students are required to take a written comprehensive examination twice during their degree program, the first upon completion of the core requirements and the second upon completion of the concentration requirements.