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Degree Requirements

Advisors to Graduate Students

Every student admitted to the department is assigned to a member of the department as advisor. In addition, the DGS and faculty members who coordinate programs in the four major subfields into which the department is organized, i.e., American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory, are also available to offer advice.

For the M.A. Degree

The Department of Political Science grants a free-standing Master’s degree and a Master’s degree during the course of study for the Ph.D. degree. Requirements below apply to both types of Master’s degrees. Students must complete all course requirements for the M.A. in two semesters.

In order to qualify for the M.A. degree, students must register for two Residence Units and complete six courses and the program’s research tool requirement. Course requirements are as follows: two colloquia or seminars (8000-or 9000-level courses); two courses, normally in one of four fields (American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory); and two other Political Science courses, normally in another field. All courses must be taken for a letter grade, and one set of field courses must be completed with an average grade of B+ (3.33) or better. Courses taken to satisfy the colloquium-seminar requirement may not be used also to satisfy the four-course requirement. Students must also demonstrate command of one research tool as described in the research tools section of the M.Phil. requirements below.

Further information on research-tool and course requirements is available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/polisci/grad/main/masters/requirements.html.

Free-Standing M.A. in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

For more information, see Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences.

For the M.Phil. Degree

To qualify for the M.Phil. degree, students must meet all the requirements for the Ph.D. except the dissertation. Six Residence Units are required for the M.Phil, including the twoearned for the M.A. degree.

Course requirements: During the first four semesters of residence, students must take, for a letter grade, a minimum of twelve Political Science courses including: three of the department’s four Field Surveys; four of the department’s colloquia and seminars (i.e., 8000- and 9000-level courses), at least two of which must involve the preparation of research papers; one course in quantitative methods or formal modeling. A list of courses approved for this purpose is available from the department.

Courses in other departments may be substituted for these requirements if carried in the department’s list of approved courses or with the prior written approval of the DGS.

Research paper requirement: Before the end of their fourth semester, students must present a completed research paper in an open departmental forum. A faculty committee assigns each paper a Pass/Fail grade and provides each student with written comments. The paper presented may be one that was written to fulfill a course requirement.

Third-semester interview: In the third term of a student’s residence—or, in the case of a student who has been granted advanced standing, in the second term of Columbia residence—the student should register in the department office for a mid-program interview. The interview is conducted by two members of the faculty to assess progress, counsel about future work, and discuss the student’s research interests.

Research tools requirement: The department requires command of two research tools, selected from the following list: a reading knowledge of a foreign language, a reading knowledge of a second foreign language, an approved two-course sequence in quantitative analysis (e.g., statistics) with a grade of B or better, an approved two-course sequence in formal modeling (e.g., game theory) with a grade of B or better, or a comparable level of proficiency in a comparable research tool, approved in writing by the DGS upon recommendation of the advisor. Quantitative courses used for the research tools requirement simultaneously fulfill the one-course quantitative methods/formal modeling requirement. Languages used to fulfill the requirement are to be chosen in consultation with the advisor from among those encompassing a significant literature in political science, including French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Italian. Certain other languages necessary for the student’s research interests may, upon approval by the student’s advisor and the DGS, be offered as a foreign language. English may not be offered as a foreign language.

Teaching requirement: Participation in the instructional activities of the department for three years. As a rule, in the second, third, and fourth years of study, students gain exposure to teaching as assistants to professors in undergraduate courses. Students who are interested in broadening their teaching apprenticeships are eligible to teach in the Core Program once they have received the M.Phil. Students may only apply to be a preceptor if they have or expect to have the M.Phil. by the May prior to being appointed as a preceptor, and if they are not past their sixth year of registration during the first year of the preceptorship. Students may not hold instructional appointments after the seventh year.

Comprehensive examination in the major and minor field: A candidate for the M.Phil. degree takes written and oral examinations in major and minor field after no more than four semesters of residence, unless the DGS gives permission in writing for an extension. A student who fails may be re-examined once in whichever field was failed. Re-examination must take place at the next examination date after the first examination. The major field must be chosen from one of the departments four subfields i.e., American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory

The minor field: The student also takes both written and oral examinations in a minor field, which is normally one of the fields of the department other than the major field. The student is expected to be conversant with the full range of important debates in this minor field, but not in the same depth required for a major in that field. As a broad and general guideline, the department assumes that preparing for the minor field entails about one-half as much course work and study as that entailed in preparing for the major field examination.

In addition to minor fields in the four departmental subfields, the department also offers minors in economics and in quantitative and formal methods. To satisfy the requirements for an economics minor, the student must prepare a course of study and have it approved by the chair of the economics minor committee. Requirements for the minor in quantitative methods are detailed below. For those taking either of these minors, no more than one of the two research tools described in the research tools requirement can be satisfied with courses in quantitative analysis or formal methods. The second research tools requirement can be satisfied either with a nonquantitative research tool (such as a language) or by a combination, approved by the DGS, of two courses in one of the four fields of political science, one of which may be a field survey.

The minor in quantitative and formal methods is intended for students whose research plans call for a strong background in statistics or mathematical modeling. The minor usually includes four or more courses in statistical or formal methods taught at the graduate level. For some students, the appropriate Ph.D. level courses are offered by Departments of Statistics, Economics, Business, Political Science, and Sociology. For other students, the appropriate courses may be at the master’s level. Students wishing to pursue the minor should submit for approval by the Committee on Quantitative Methods an application containing the following: a proposal for a particular course of study; a statement of his or her research plans; and the names of at least two faculty members, which may include one outside the Department of Political Science, who have agreed to serve as advisors and examiners. Normally after the completion of all course work, but not later than the date at which the student takes his or her major comprehensive exam, the student submits a research paper demonstrating an ability to deploy advanced quantitative methods and/or mathematical modeling in service of substantive research in political science. Successful completion of the minor in quantitative methods is demonstrated by a satisfactory grade on this paper, the maintenance of a B average in the quantitative courses taken for the minor, and a satisfactory performance in the student’s oral exam. The paper may not be used for seminar credit in any other course, nor may it be used to fulfill the research paper requirement.

No course taken in fulfillment of the research tools requirement may count toward any part of the minor in quantitative methods, and no course taken in fulfillment of the quantitative methods minor may count toward the research tools requirement.

With departmental approval, students may fulfill the minor field requirement by constructing an ad hoc minor field (a “special minor”). Special minor fields must be directly relevant to topics in the field of political science, but may include work in disciplines other than political science. Any students who wishes to fulfill the minor requirement with a special minor must submit a proposal for this field to the Director of Graduate Studies and receive approval from the Director of Graduate Studies and another faculty sponsor. In order to be considered for approval, the proposal must specify three courses the student will take in the special minor field, one of which must be equivalent in scope to the department’s field survey courses (note that this course is taken in addition to the three departmental field survey courses). In addition, the students must submit an original research paper in the special minor field and must take and pass an oral examination based on the research paper given by two members of the faculty, at least one of whom must be a member of the Department of Political Science. The student will be certified by the Director of Graduate Studies to have fulfilled the minor field requirement when he or she has taken and passed the three courses with an average grade of B (3.0) or better, submitted the research paper, and passed the oral examination. A regional institute Certificate does not satisfy the minor requirement, nor does formal participation in the program of study of the Public Policy Consortium at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/.

For the Ph.D. Degree

Dissertation proposal: A student who has completed the M.Phil. degree requirements, including the comprehensive examinations, must submit a dissertation proposal endorsed by two faculty sponsors for departmental approval by the end of the sixth semester of residence, or during the term after comprehensive examinations are passed, whichever comes later.

Dissertation seminars: Students in their third and fourth years of residence are required to participate in one of the dissertation seminars approved by the department. Registration in these seminars for a letter grade is recommended but not required. Participation is strongly recommended for students in later years of study unless they are off campus conducting research. Participation by students in earlier years of residence is by permission of the instructor.

Final examination: See the University regulations for defense and permanent deposit of the dissertation on the Dissertation Office website.

Usually, no more than seven years of candidacy for the Ph.D. degree from the time of initial registration in the department is allowed.

Financial Aid

A comprehensive program of financial aid, including fellowships and appointments in teaching, is available to Ph.D. students. After the first year, all Ph.D. students admitted to the program receive annually the prevailing stipend and appropriate tuition and health fees through the fifth year, provided that they remain in good academic standing. If students receive a year of advanced standing, they are entitled to four years of fellowship funding.