Ph.D. Degree

General Requirements

The Ph.D. degree requires 60 semester hours of course work beyond the bachelor's degree, three hours of dissertation (AAEC 9300), and preparation of an acceptable dissertation. The student must demonstrate research skills in statistics and meet residency requirements. At least two consecutive semesters of full-time work (18 hours) must be spent in resident study on the campus.

During the first semester, the student should interact with the faculty to discover areas of shared interest. During this semester the student will ordinarily be advised by the Graduate Coordinator although a temporary Major Professor may be assigned. Each graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. degree must have an approved Advisory Committee consisting of the Major Professor as Chair and two or more additional members. Selection of the Advisory Committee is based on the expressed desires of the student, the availability and willingness of faculty to serve, and the availability of allocated assistantships. Final approval of the committee is made by the Dean of the Graduate School after review and approval by the Graduate Coordinator. Changes in the Major Professor can be made only with the mutual agreement of student, both old and new Major Professors and the Graduate Coordinator. The Major Professor must be a member of the Graduate Faculty and a majority of the Advisory Committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty.

The Advisory Committee, in consultation with the student, is responsible for planning the student's program of study, choosing a subject for the dissertation, and for arranging the qualifying written and oral examinations in accordance with existing departmental policies. As a matter of practice most Ph.D. candidates will be expected to function as a teaching assistant at least one semester during his/her program of study.

While the Advisory Committee will guide the student in initiating the dissertation work, the completion of the necessary research and the dissertation is entirely the responsibility of the graduate student. The preparation of a Ph.D. dissertation will normally require a minimum of 12 months full-time equivalent.

All Ph.D. students are required to give two departmental seminars on their dissertation research. First, each student must present a brief seminar outlining the proposed dissertation research (problem statement, objectives, theory, possible data sources, and early results if available) prior to the advancement to candidacy. The goal of this seminar is to allow for input from faculty and students which might improve the student's research program.

Second, each student must present a second seminar covering the results of the dissertation research prior to the final dissertation defense. As part of this training, the Ph.D. candidate is also encouraged to prepare, under the supervision and with the assistance of the Major Professor, a manuscript for publication based on his/her dissertation research.

Requirements for the Ph.D. degree are summarized in the next section. Additional details can be obtained by reference to the Graduate School Bulletin.

Requirements for Graduation

A. A minimum of 60 hours or equivalent above the Bachelor's degree are required.  Within this 60 hour requirement the following courses are required:
  1. 23 Hours in Agricultural and Applied Economics
  2. 15 Hours in Economic Theory (AAEC or ECON)
  3. 12 Hours in Research Methods and Statistics
  4. 9 Hours of additional courses acceptable to the student's advisory committee
  5. Specific courses required:  AAEC 6580, ECON 8010, ECON 8020, ECON 8030, ECON 8040, and ECON 8050 or equivalent courses are required of all Ph.D. students, with a minimum acceptable grade of B
B. The average grade for the 60 hours of course work must be at least 3.0 or a B.

C. Calculus, intermediate microeconomics, and probability, statistics, or econometrics are prerequisites for the Ph.D. program.  Masters level microeconomics, econometrics, and macroeconomics, along with mathematical statistics and linear algebra, are recommended for the Ph.D. program. These may have been taken prior to admission to the Ph.D. program. Otherwise, these courses must be taken without graduate credit and will not be part of the 60-hour minimum requirement.

D. Research skills requirement in statistics: STAT 6210–6220 or the equivalent or a course for which these sequences are a prerequisite. This course work must be completed at UGA.

E. Successful completion of written and oral preliminary examinations.

F. An acceptable dissertation. A student must also register for a minimum of three hours of thesis, AAEC 9300, in addition to the 60 hours of course work.

G. Successful completion of final oral examination.