Field Examinations - Students select three examination fields from the following: international relations; international economics; international development; international political economy; comparative politics; political and economic theory; American foreign policy; and regional studies.
In exceptional circumstances, a student may select two geographical areas in which to be examined. If the student's dissertation topic will be related to the two world areas, such permission may be recommended by the student's field director and granted by the Ph.D. Committee. Ph.D. students with a SAIS M.A. must take all three comprehensive examinations by the end of the third semester in the Ph.D. program. Ph.D. students from other universities must take all three comprehensives by the end of the fifth semester in the program.
A student who fails an examination once may retake the examination in either the same or another field. A retake is allowed in only one field. Make-up examinations of failures must be completed by the end of the fourth semester for SAIS M.A. graduates, and by the end of the sixth semester for graduates of other universities. If the retake is a failure, the student is automatically dropped from the Ph.D. program. Any two failures eliminate the student from the program.
International Economics Competence - All Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate competence in the field of International Economics. SAIS M.A. degree recipients will be accepted as having met the economics requirement. Other students must either take the written comprehensive examination in International Economics as one of the three doctoral field examinations, or take an oral or written examination to establish equivalence with the SAIS M.A. standard in the field.
The faculty of the International Economics field administers the equivalency exam each year during the regular M.A. oral examination periods in December and May. Students selecting the equivalency exam are allowed to take the exam no more than twice. The economics equivalency exam must be successfully completed within the student’s first three semesters. Language Competence - Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate competence in two foreign languages. Standards of satisfactory performance in the first and second languages are determined by each field director in consultation with the language faculty.
With permission of the field director, a student may replace competence in a second foreign language with two courses in basic and applied econometrics. Fulfillment of this requirement through courses taken outside SAIS must be certified by the instructor of quantitative methodology at SAIS.
For more information about languages taught at SAIS, please visit the Language Studies web page.
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