Sociology - M.A. and Ph.D. Download to print

The Ph.D. in Sociology prepares students for research and teaching careers in higher education and for research-based careers in both the public and private sectors. The program offers specializations in crime, deviance, criminal justice, and health and health care (including mental health), social inequalities (race, class, gender), and social psychology.

The Master of Arts in Sociology is an intermediate degree required of students in the doctoral program and consists of two concentrations: Sociology and Gerontology. Gerontology is a specialized concentration that provides a foundations for a variety of career lines for further graduate study. Students concentrate in the substantive and interdisciplinary are of gerontology. ADMISSION TO THE GERONTOLOGY CONCENTRATION SUSPENDED THROUGH 2013.

Graduate assistantships, Group Processes Research Laboratory, Survey Research Laboratory

Applications for admission are accepted from those who will have a completed baccalaureate or master's degree upon starting the program. It is limited to students whose records clearly indicate both scholarly and research potential to do doctoral-level work. For applicants who will have a completed master's degree from another institution upon starting the program, the master's degree/thesis and up to 12 credit hours of relevant coursework with a grad of "B" (3.0) or better from accredited institutions may be accepted for transfer towards the doctoral degree, subject to approval by the Sociology Department and college dean. However, all students who enter the program with an M.A. earned at another institution must take "Profession and Ethical Issues in Sociology" (SOC 72002). This course cannot be waived. If the M.A. is not complete upon admission, students must complete it before the start of the second semester after they begin the program. 

M.A.: Requirements for the intermediate M.A. degree amount to 34 total credit hours. This includes 14 hours of required courses, 6 hours for the project and 14 hours of electives.

Ph.D.: Requirements for the degree are 60 total credit hours. This includes 30 semester hours of required and elective coursework, 30 credit hours of Dissertation I (SOC 82199) and passing the passing the doctoral candidacy examination. This examination will include an evaluation of theory, methodology, analysis, and other topics relevant to the student’s specialty areas. Doctoral program aspirants who do not hold the M.A. upon starting the program must complete all the requirements for the master's degree.

Complete a dissertation and successfully defend it in an oral examination.

Alpha Kappa Delta, Graduate Student Senate, Pi Gamma Mu, Sociologists for Women in Society