Economics, Ph.D

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Admission

The minimum standard for admission to the Ph.D. program is a Master’s degree from a recognized university, with a B+ average. Admission is competitive: not all applicants who meet the minimum standard will be offered admission.

Requirements

There are three phases of doctoral studies:

Phase 1

The first is passing the comprehensive exams in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. Students must complete the following courses:

Theory Sequence

Econometrics Sequence

Mathematics Review

ECON *765 / Mathematical Methods

Additional Information

A candidate who has taken courses equivalent to ECON *721 , ECON *723 and/or ECON *761 at another university can petition the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee to have these course requirements reduced. Both of the theory exams must be completed within eighteen months of entering the doctoral program.

Phase 2

The second phase is passing the comprehensive exams in two areas of specialization. Certain courses, selected at the discretion of the field examination committee, must be completed before attempting these exams. The areas of specialization, and typical course requirement for each of them, are:

Health Economics

ECON *788 / Health Economics

Two of:

International Economics

Labour Economics

Growth and Monetary Economics

Population Economics

Public Economics

Econometrics

Additional Information

These comprehensive exams must be completed within twenty-four months of entering the doctoral program.

Phase 3

The third phase is the thesis. A student may choose to take additional courses at this stage if the courses are germane to the student’s proposed research. Up to four half courses may be taken outside of the department with the approval of the Graduate Chair. A student at this stage is required to complete the following seminar courses. Doctoral students typically take a total of 12-14 graduate courses at this university.

Co-op Option in M.A. and Ph.D. Degrees

M.A. students who have successfully completed ECON *761 and Ph.D. students who have successfully completed the comprehensive examinations, may apply for the co-op option associated with these degree programs. Students will not be considered for acceptance into this option in advance of completion of these requirements. The number of students who will be accepted will be small and will depend on available placements.

To complete either the M.A. or Ph.D. co-op option successfully, the student must work a total of eight months in either one or two placements. Each placement must be approved in advance by the supervisor and the Department. A placement must include a significant research opportunity and be consistent with progress to a degree. At the completion of each placement, the student must write a report describing the research outcome and append a letter of evaluation by the employer. This report must be judged satisfactory by the supervisory committee. In the event the report is judged unsatisfactory, the student will return to his/her original program (either the M.A. or Ph.D.) and will not be eligible for the co-op designation on her/his transcript. The remaining requirements for the M.A. or the Ph.D. program must be completed. During the period of co-op placement, a student will be considered as a full-time student but will pay reduced fees.