Students also must pass two area examinations, write and defend a dissertation prospectus, and write and successfully defend a dissertation.

Doctoral students take two area exams?one from list A, the other from list A or B. List A has five standing committees: crime, law, and deviance; family; political sociology; social psychology; and stratification. For the list B exam, a student may propose any area that is not covered under list A and for which there is adequate faculty support.