Doctorate of Sociology

Overview

The PhD program in sociology offers a specialization in one of three areas: Demography, Environment & Community, and Social Inequality. In addition to required courses in social theory and qualitative and quantitative research methods, PhD students take a variety of elective courses both in and outside of their specialization areas. The program requires a minimum of 51 credit hours (48 for those who received their MS from our program), as well as a written comprehensive examination and the completion of a research-based dissertation. The PhD program generally requires 4-5 years to complete as a full time student. Students can expand their graduate training opportunities by taking courses outside the program in areas such as statistics, geography, and climate science. Funded PhD positions (as a teaching assistant, graduate instructor, or research assistant) are available.

Career Application

About half of our PhD graduates continue on to careers in academia. Our alumni currently hold faculty positions at Colorado State University - Ft. Collins, Colorado State University - Pueblo, Delta State University, Evergreen State College, Illinois State University, Tennessee State University, Brigham Young University - Idaho, and Albright College, among others. A few hold research or administrative positions in academia. The other half primarily work in research positions in the public sector, including the CDC, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Land Management, and various state government and international agencies.

Admission Information

Applications open on September 1st. Applications and all supporting materials are due by December 20th. Late applications will not be considered. 

The supplemental materials required by the sociology program are as follows:

1. Official transcripts from all previous institutions of higher education that you have attended
2. A statement of purpose
3. Letters of Reference
4. Writing sample. This should be something you have already written (for example a course paper), not a new piece of writing that you produce just for the application. 
5. GRE scores are not required

Start an Application with the school of graduate studies. View more information on application procedures and faq's. 

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