Ph.D. Degree Requirements

Candidates for the Ph.D. in Business Administration will be required to complete at least 60 hours of graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree. A student’s program must be approved by an advisory committee, and must include a major field and an approved minor field, as well as major area specific research methods and statistics coursework. A written major comprehensive examination, a dissertation, and an oral dissertation defense are required of all candidates. In addition to the major and minor fields, each candidate must satisfy such additional requirements as deemed appropriate by the advisory committee.

Curricula

Each student will be required to complete at least 60 hours of approved graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree. Moreover, each student must complete at least 12 hours at the 600 level in a major field beyond the bachelor’s degree and at least 9 hours in a minor field beyond the bachelor’s degree. A doctoral student must also demonstrate proficiency in research methodology and satisfy the tool requirement of the major field department. See the link below for descriptions of all Business Administration graduate classes.

Written Comprehensive Examination

Upon satisfactory completion of all course work in each area and the tool area, the student must pass a written examination provided by the appropriate academic department. The purpose of these examinations is to determine competence in the areas of study.

Dissertation and Oral Defense

The dissertation, which is supervised and evaluated by the faculty, demonstrates the student’s ability to conduct research and to make a distinct and significant contribution to the common body of knowledge within one’s discipline. The initial step of the process is directed toward the formulation of a written proposal that must be approved by a dissertation committee. After writing the dissertation, the candidate must successfully defend it before the dissertation committee.