The deadline for fall entry is December 15. All material, including official standardized test scores, must be received by the SAIS Office of Admissions in advance of the deadline.

All of our materials are available online. You can learn more about the SAIS degree offerings by clicking on Degree Options and the application process by clicking on Applying to SAIS.

• Online Application Form
• Application fee ($85)
• Statement of Purpose (600 words)
• Writing Sample
• Dissertation Topic
• Résumé/CV
• Two (2) letters of recommendation
• Official transcripts for all college-level course work
• GRE or GMAT score reports
• TOEFL or IELTS score reports (non-native English speakers only)

All materials, except for transcripts and test scores, can be submitted via the online application. Test scores must be sent to us directly from the testing service. Official transcripts must be sent via secure electronic services (e.g., Scrip-Safe) or mailed to the SAIS Washington, D.C. Admissions Office:

Johns Hopkins University, SAIS
Office of Admissions
1740 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
 Ph.D. applicants who have completed the SAIS M.A. within the past five years or who are currently enrolled in the program may request to use materials that were submitted for their M.A. application.  These individuals should contact the registrar’s office to ensure the materials are sent to the admissions office.

If your recommenders prefer to submit paper recommendations, you can obtain a recommendation cover sheet from the online application.  Please note that paper recommendations, like any other application materials, are due by the appropriate deadlines.  However, we strongly advise that your references submit letters using the online system, as it allows for applicants to monitor the progress of their recommendations. We will accept letters of recommendation forwarded on an applicant's behalf by his/her undergraduate career services office or other outside vendors providing a similar service.

If English is not your native language, (or in the case of bilingual students, your dominant language is not English) but you hold an undergraduate degree granted by an accredited institution in a country where English is an official language and where English is the language of instruction, than you will not be required to submit an English competency exam. If English is not your native language, (or in the case of bilingual students, your dominant language is not English) but you hold a graduate degree granted by an accredited institution in a country where English is an official language and where English is the language of instruction, then you will need the approval of the Office of Admissions to be exempt from submitting an English competency exam. Please contact the Office of Admissions for more information.   A TOEFL score of at least 600 for the paper-based exam, 250 for the computer-based exam or 100 for the internet-based exam is required of all applicants whose native language is not English.  Students who choose to submit the IELTS exam results must meet a minimum of 7.0. 

All applicants are required to take either the GRE General Exam or the GMAT. LSATS are not accepted. To ensure that your test scores reach SAIS on time, you should take the appropriate examinations and request your official score reports at least a month before the deadline. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) score reporting school code (GRE and TOEFL) for SAIS is 5610 and the department code should be left blank ("0000"). The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) score reporting school code (GMAT) for SAIS is KGB-GX-99.

ETS stipulates that GRE scores are valid for five years, and TOEFL scores are valid for two years. GMAC stipulates that GMAT scores are valid for ten years. Neither ETS nor GMAC will not forward expired test scores to our office. * For information on GRE and TOEFL test sites and dates refer to www.ets.org; for GMAT refer to www.gmac.com; for IELTS refer to www.ielts.org.

The writing sample should be a piece of analytical writing that you have prepared for an academic program or an employer. Ideally, you should submit a research paper based on sources in the academic field to which you will be applying. However, a piece of analytical writing in another field is acceptable. Please include a cover sheet that provides current contact information of the person for whom the paper was originally written. The writing sample should be between fifteen and forty double-spaced pages, and the applicant must be the sole author.

In order to apply for the Ph.D. program, individuals must hold the SAIS M.A. degree, be a resident SAIS student who has completed at least twelve courses toward the M.A. degree, or be a student or graduate who has comparable academic qualifications from another institution. Holders of Bachelor’s degrees are encouraged to research the SAIS M.A. degree.

The Ph.D. Committee accepts applicants who have completed the Master of Arts in International Relations degree at SAIS, as well as applicants who have completed M.A. programs at other institutions. Competitive applicants who have not graduated from SAIS will often hold M.A. degrees in the social sciences, especially in the disciplines of international relations, political science, or history. Such degrees require graduates to have achieved competency in theoretical studies, research methodology, and extensive academic writing. Advanced professional degrees such as a Juris Doctorate or a Master of Business Administration cannot act as substitutes for advanced work in international affairs. An advanced degree in strategic studies from a military institution would not be considered appropriate for admission to most Ph.D. fields but is sometimes acceptable for admission to the Strategic Studies field at SAIS.

The principal weight is given to academic achievements, while an applicant’s professional experience is of secondary significance. Exceptions are possible, but only in truly unusual cases.

The Admissions Office prepares all Ph.D. application files for review by the Ph.D. Committee. The Ph.D. Committee makes final decisions on the basis of recommendations from the field directors, and applicants are notified of these decisions in early March. Each year, a small number of outstanding candidates are admitted into the Ph.D. program at SAIS.

Requests for general information about the Ph.D. program should be directed to Stephanie Hedge, Manager of Graduate Services, Office of Academic Affairs at 202.663.7798 or stephanie.hedge@jhu.edu.  Students desiring additional information about a particular Ph.D. field should contact the relevant field director or program coordinator.

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
• 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.

Ph.D. students must be in residence at SAIS in Washington, DC during their first year of study, and all Ph.D. coursework must be completed in Washington, DC. Fieldwork begins after a student has completed all necessary courses, passed the comprehensive examinations, and successfully defended a dissertation topic. Fieldwork might be conducted at the Bologna campus or the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, but this would be appropriate for a limited range of topics and would require the field director’s permission.

The Ph.D. program at SAIS requires a full-time commitment. Individuals should not apply with the expectation of completing the program on a part-time basis, as such an approach is often a recipe for personal unhappiness and, usually, failure to complete the degree.

A doctoral candidate must complete a dissertation within five years of taking his or her first Ph.D. examination. The average length of time from entry in the doctoral program to completion of the degree is five to six years.

The resident Ph.D. tuition for 2012-2013 is $38,256 and the non-resident tuition is $3,825, not including living expenses.  The resident tuition is charged to Ph.D. students that are completing course work at SAIS (which usually consists of the first three years of the program).

Ph.D. applicants who submit the appropriate Application for Financial Aid before February 1st will be considered for financial aid. SAIS provides at least three years of support in the form of full or partial stipends for students with demonstrated financial need. Each year, continuing Ph.D. students can reapply for financial aid. The Ph.D. Committee will carefully evaluate each student on the basis of performance in class, satisfaction of degree requirements, and a written evaluation from his or her Ph.D. advisor. 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.

Most SAIS faculty members have research assistants who are also Ph.D. students. These assignments are pursued and established after the admissions process has concluded. A small number of teaching assistantships are associated with SAIS courses of unusually large enrollments. Typically, however, most Ph.D. candidates do not have a teaching assistantship while at SAIS.

Ph.D. graduates have taken jobs in the academic, policymaking, and non-profit sectors. Anecdotal evidence indicates that by comparison with the graduates of Ph.D. programs at other universities, a larger proportion of SAIS graduates establish careers in the policymaking and non-profit sectors.