Application Cycle For answers to common questions on eligibility to apply and the application process, click here. Program Requirements FAQs How is my faculty advisor assigned? New Ph.D. students will be assigned a faculty advisor prior to starting the program. The faculty advisor is a tenured faculty member from the student's area of study. Incoming students should meet with their faculty advisors prior to the start of the semester to develop an academic plan. How long does it take to complete the program? Students with M.A.s from SAIS should complete all comprehensive exams by the end of the third semester of study, and students with MIPPs from SAIS or M.A.s from another institution should complete all comprehensive exams by the end of the fifth semester. All students need to prepare and defend a written dissertation prospectus no later than six months after passing the last comprehensive exam. Additionally, students have a period of no more than five years from the date that they take their first comprehensive exam to prepare and defend the dissertation. Highly motivated students may complete the program in less time. What is the cost of the Ph.D. tuition? Ph.D. students are classified as pre-dissertation and dissertation for tuition purposes. All students enter the program as pre-dissertation students, which are students that are taking courses towards the Ph.D. degree. Students with SAIS M.A.s will be classified as pre-dissertation for the first two years in the program, while all other students will be classified as pre-dissertation for the first three years in the program. The pre-dissertation tuition for the 2009-2010 academic year is $34,505, and the dissertation tuition is $3,450.50, not including living expenses. What type of funding is available from SAIS? A limited number of fellowships are available each year. Students with M.A.s from SAIS may receive a maximum of three years of funding, and non-SAIS M.A.s may receive a maximum of four years of funding. The fellowship may include tuition and/or stipend benefits. Ph.D. students are urged to seek outside support for their studies at SAIS. In the annual review process, applications for outside support will be treated as one sign of a student's seriousness of purpose. Students receiving fellowship awards will be carefully evaluated by the Ph.D. Committee on the basis of performance in class, satisfaction of degree requirements, and a written evaluation from the candidate’s Ph.D. advisor at the end of each academic year to determine if the financial award will be renewed. How do I apply for funding? There is not an application process for requesting funding. If a student is awarded funding, the offer will be included in the admissions letter. What are the required Ph.D. courses? All incoming students are required to take for credit and pass the following two courses in research methodology: - Theories and Methods of Qualitative Political Research
- Quantitative Methods of Political Research
Most students will take Theories and Methods of Qualitative Political Research in the first semester and Quantitative Methods of Political Research in the second semester. Additionally, most students will take Statistical Methods for Business and Economics in the first semester because it is a pre-requisite for Quantitative Methods of Political Research. If a student has a strong background in statistics, the student may request to take the SAIS Statistics waiver exam. For details on requesting a waiver exam, click here. Ph.D. students need to meet a variety of economics and language requirements, which may require additional courses. The faculty advisors will work with students individually to develop a course of study related to research needs, meaning that additional coursework may be requested by the faculty advisor. How are the requirements different for students that did not receive their M.A.s from SAIS? All Ph.D. students must demonstrate competence in the field of International Economics. SAIS M.A. degree recipients will be accepted as having met the economics requirement during their prior studies at SAIS. To meet the competence in International Economics requirement, non-SAIS M.A. students must complete one of the following within the first three semesters: - Pass the written comprehensive exam in International Economics as one of their three comprehensive exams.
- Pass a one-hour oral exam equivalent to the M.A. Oral Exam in economics and the student’s main field of study.
To prepare for the M.A. Oral Equivalency Exam, the student must take for credit and pass the following classes or pass the waiver exams: - Microeconomics
- Macroeconomics,
- International Trade Theory and
- International Monetary Theory.
Students who have demonstrated equivalence in coursework at another institution may request to sit for a waiver exam. Additionally, all Ph.D. students must demonstrate competence either in two foreign languages or in one foreign language and quantitative methods of analysis. SAIS M.A.s have usually met the first language requirement during their M.A. studies. What are the foreign language requirements? All Ph.D. students must demonstrate competence either in two foreign languages or in one foreign language and quantitative methods of analysis. Students are urged to complete the language/quantitative analysis requirement early in their program of study. Primary Language - Generally students can meet the competence requirement for the first foreign language by passing the same language proficiency exam required in SAIS M.A. programs, but the level of proficiency required is subject to approval by the student’s field director. Secondary Language - For the second foreign language, students generally can meet the requirement by taking and passing the reading section of the M.A. proficiency exam, but this level of proficiency is also subject to approval by the student’s field director. In addition to the languages taught at SAIS, other regional languages also may be acceptable, but must be approved by the student’s field director. Quantitative Methods of Analysis as the Second Language - With the permission of the field director, students may replace competence in a second foreign language with two one-semester courses in basic and applied econometrics. If students wish to satisfy this requirement with courses taken outside SAIS, they must be certified by the instructor of Quantitative Methodology at SAIS or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. What are the comprehensive exam requirements? All students must pass three comprehensive examinations, including one in their areas of study and two additional comprehensive exams. Students should discuss their interest with their faculty advisor and develop a plan for completing the three exams. The examination areas are as follows: - American Foreign Policy
- Comparative Politics
- International Development
- International Economics
- International Political Economy
- International Relations
- Political and Economic Theory
- One of the SAIS Regional Studies Programs.
| 
