Graduate coursework prepares students for the intellectual capacity to read for their tailored candidacy exams, also to design and implement dissertations projects. The PhD program is subdivided into the regular PhD track and the direct-to-PhD track:

  • regular PhD track is for students already holding Master's degrees and takes an estimated five years to complete
  • direct-to-PhD program is for students without a previous Master's degree and takes an estimated six years to complete

Students in either PhD track, who do not already hold and MA in WGSS, can obtain the MA by successfully completing 30 credits and passing the MA written exam, or by successfully completing the PhD candidacy exam. Obtaining the MA will not interfere with progress toward the PhD.