Degree Requirements



	The M.A.
	The M.Phil.
	The Ph.D.

The requirements listed below are special to this department and must be read in conjunction with the general requirements of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

For the M.A. Degree

In order to qualify for the Master of Arts degree, students must meet the following requirements. Students who have have received an M.A. degree from another institution should see the section below on Advanced Standing.

Course requirements:
Students in the Ph.D. program (within two academic years) must take a minimum of six (6) political science courses for Examination credit (for a letter grade), including:

two colloquia or seminars (8000- or 9000-level courses);
two courses, normally in one of the four subfields of political science (i.e., American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory);
two additional courses, normally in a second subfield of political science.

One of the two sets of courses in the non-colloquium section of the requirement must be completed with an average grade of B+ (3.33) or better.

Courses in other departments may be substituted for those of the Department of Political Science if carried in the Department’s approved list of “related courses” or with the prior written approval of the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).

Students in the sequential M.A. program should select courses with M.Phil. course distribution requirements in mind.

Research tool requirement:
For the M.A. degree, the department requires command of one research tool, selected from the following list:

a reading knowledge of a foreign language, demonstrated by successfully passing the proficiency exam offered by a language department, by placing out of the fourth-year on the placement exam offered in a language department (e.g., East Asian Languages and Literatures), or by passing the fourth-year course in a foreign language. Native speakers of a language other than English may offer their native language in satisfaction of this requirement. Languages used to fulfill the requirement are to be chosen in consultation with the adviser from among those encompassing a significant literature in political science, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Certain other languages necessary for the student's research interests may, upon approval of the student's adviser and/or the DGS, be offered as a foreign language. English may not be offered as a foreign language.
one of the following two-course sequences in quantitative analysis with an average grade of B or better:

POLS W4910 and W4911
POLS W4910 and W4912
POLS W4910 and W4209
POLS W4912 and W4291
POLS W4912 and W4292

one of the following two-course sequences in formal modeling with an average grade of B or better:

POLS W4209 and W4210
POLS W4360 and W4209

a comparable level of proficiency in a comparable research tool, approved in writing by the DGS upon recommendation of the student’s adviser.

Courses offered in fulfillment of the Research Tool requirement count toward the six-course requirement for the M.A..

Human Subjects Test
Students completing Master's Degree requirements in the sequential M.A./M.Phil./Ph.D. program must complete the Institutional Review Board’s online examination, TC0015, the “Morningside Human Subjects Training Course,” in the first semester of residence as required by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The course is available at https://www.rascal.columbia.edu/comply/tcframe.html.

Resident Units
Two

For The M.Phil. Degree

The degree of Master of Philosophy is conferred upon a student who has fulfilled satisfactorily all Ph.D. requirements but the dissertation. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences requires students to complete all M.Phil. requirements within four years of study.

Prerequisite Degree
Columbia University M.A. or two units of Advanced Standing.

Advanced Standing
Advanced standing will be granted to students who, upon entrance to the Graduate School, have completed the requirements for either an appropriate Master’s degree, conferred by a regionally accredited institution or the international equivalent or, sometimes, an appropriate professional degree, at Columbia or elsewhere. The faculty must judge that the previous degree is the academic equivalent of the Columbia M.A. and so advances the student toward the M.Phil. On this basis, one, two, or three Residence Units may be applied to credit toward the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees. Usually work is accepted for credit when (a) it has contributed directly and substantially to the fulfillment of the requirements for the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees and (b) it meets departmental standards. Students granted advanced standing under the foregoing provisions are not eligible to receive the M.A. degree from Columbia and may have their package of fellowship support adjusted accordingly.

Usually, one unit is given to a student who has completed the M.A. in a similar or related, but not identical, field, for example in international relations, philosophy, or regional studies. A student who receives one unit of advanced standing is still eligible for the Columbia M.A.

Usually, two units are given to a student who has completed the M.A. in political science.

Usually, three units are given to a student who has completed the M.I.A. or M.P.A. from Columbia University.

The Department allows students who receive advanced standing the same amount of time to complete degree requirements as it allows students entering without advanced standing.

Advanced standing does not automatically fulfill course or examination requirements for the M.Phil. degree. Previous graduate coursework may be offered in fulfillment of degree requirements; however, each course must be petitioned to the DGS.

Course requirements:
During the first four semesters of residence, students must take a minimum of twelve (12) political science courses for Examination credit (for a letter grade), including:

three of the Department’s four Field Surveys (i.e., 6210, 6403, 6601, 6801)
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 analysis or formal modeling

In addition to the three field survey courses and one course in quantitative analysis or formal modeling, the twelve courses students must take for Examination credit must include at least two courses in each of two different subfields of political science.

The Department’s field surveys are:

POLS G6210, Theories and Debates in American Politics
POLS G6403, Issues in Comparative Politics
POLS G6601, Issues in Political Theory
POLS G6801, Theories of International Relations

The courses that fulfill the “one course in quantitative analysis or formal modeling” requirement are:

POLS W4209, Game Theory and Political Theory
POLS W4210, Research Topics in Game Theory
POLS W4291, Advanced Topics in Quantitative Research: Models for Limited and Qualitative Dependent Variables
POLS W4292, Advanced Topics in Quantitative Research: Models for Panel and Time-Series Cross-Section Data
POLS W4910, Quantitative Political Research
POLS W4911, Analysis of Political Data
POLS W4912, Multivariate Political Research
POLS W4330, Regression and Multilevel Models (Department of Statistics)
STAT G7110, Political Science Methodology
STAT G7300, Research in Bayesian Statistics

Courses used to fulfill the Research Tool requirement simultaneously fulfill the “one course in quantitative methods” requirement but cannot be counted toward the four-course requirement of those completing quantitative methods as a minor subfield.

Methods Minors may use two courses from the same subfield outside of their major subfield to satisfy the Research Tool requirement. For example, a student could use two courses in international relations for the tools requirement, as long as international relations is not the student’s major subfield.

Mid-Program Interview:
Each student will be scheduled for a mid-program interview during their third semester or in their second semester with advanced standing. Two members of the faculty, normally the student’s adviser and the DGS, will conduct the interview. The goal of the meeting is to assess progress, to evaluate the student’s preparation thus far for the comprehensive exams, to counsel about future coursework and completing the degree requirements, and to discuss the student’s research interests. The interviewers compile a short report with comments that is placed in the student’s file for future reference.

Research Paper Presentation:
In the spring of their second year, students must present a research paper at the departmental student conference, referred to as “Mini-APSA.” This paper need not be written especially for this occasion, but can be or grow out of one completed for a course. Students will not be graded for the exercise, but will receive comments from a faculty discussant.

Comprehensive Exams:
A candidate for the M.Phil. degree takes on-campus written and oral examinations in a major and a minor field after no more than four semesters of residence, unless the DGS gives permission in writing for an extension.

The Department is organized into four major subfields: American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory. Students select a major and minor field from among these. Students may also select pre-approved minors in Economics, Quantitative Methods, or Law. Students may petition to do a special minor by following procedures outlined below.

In order to take comprehensive exams, students must meet minimal expectations for academic achievement. Each student’s academic record is reviewed by the Fellowship Committee annually on the basis of academic performance, including the timely and satisfactory completion of course, research tool, and research paper requirements. A student who does not meet minimal expectations will be so notified by the DGS, and, in a meeting with the DGS and the student’s adviser, will be informed of what improvements must occur for the student to be eligible to take the comprehensive exams. Students who are so notified and who do not meet these expectations prior to the exams will not be allowed to take them, and will be considered to have failed the exams one time.

Students who propose to take an exam early must have their academic records reviewed by the DGS to ensure that they are meeting minimal expectations for academic achievement. Students who take the exam early (and only such students) are permitted to take the major without simultaneously taking the minor, which must be taken by or before the normal time.

The oral examination committee (comprised of three faculty members specializing in the fields of examination if both major and minor fields are being examined, or two members specializing in the field if only the major or only the minor field is being examined) will make a recommendation regarding the outcome of the exam, taking into consideration the student’s performance on both the written and oral components. The faculty as a whole will then render a collective judgment on whether the student has passed or failed the exam.

A student who fails the comprehensive exam on the first attempt will be given written feedback from the orals committee regarding the reasons for the failure and the areas in which improvement is needed (students who pass may see the chair of the oral examining committee for comments). The student will also be informed of any problems in his or her record that could lead the Department to award a terminal M.Phil. even if he or she passes the comprehensive exam on the second attempt. A student who fails the comprehensive exam a second time is not eligible to receive the M.Phil. and is terminated from the program.

If the faculty votes to pass a student on the comprehensive exams, it will then decide whether the student will continue to pursue the Ph.D. or shall receive a terminal M.Phil. (contingent on satisfaction of all M.Phil. requirements). In making this decision, the entirety of the student’s record and performance will be considered. This includes grades, the number of Incompletes (more than one at the time of the exam weakens the student’s record), the quality of the student’s research papers, and the performance on the comprehensive exams (students with weaker academic records will be helped by good performance on the exams).

If the faculty decides that the student’s record is not satisfactory for continuing on with the Ph.D., the DGS (in consultation with the faculty and under GSAS rules) will notify the student of the problems that exist with the record, what must be done to address these problems, and a timeline within which they must be addressed to the satisfaction of the faculty. After the allotted time, the faulty will make a collective decision regarding whether the student can then continue to pursue the Ph.D. or shall receive a terminal M.Phil. (contingent on satisfaction of all M.Phil. requirements).

Grievances regarding the outcome of comprehensive exams can be pursued according to the procedures laid out in GSAS rules
(see http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/sub/policies/grievance/policy/index.html).

The Major Field
The major field must be chosen from one of the Department’s four main subfields, i.e., American politics, comparative politics, international relations, or political theory. 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 Minor Field
The minor field is normally a second field selected from the Department’s four main subfields. (Students may elect a qualifying minor field in Economics, Quantitative Methods, Law or a field designed in consultation with members of the faculty; information and procedures for qualifying in these minors is presented under “Major and Minor Subfields” below.) The student will be expected to be conversant with the full range of important debates in this minor field, but not in the same depth as required for a major in that field. The Department assumes that preparing for the minor field will entail about one-half as much coursework and study as that entailed in preparing for the major field examination.

*Please note that there is no oral exam for sociomedical science students minoring in political science; they take only the written minor exam in one subfield.

Quantitative Methods as a Minor Field

The Minor in Quantitative Methods (“Methods,” or “Methodology”) is intended for Political Science doctoral students whose research plans call for a strong background in statistics or mathematical modeling. The minor will usually include four or more courses in statistical or formal methods taught at the graduate level. Students may take graduate level courses in the Departments of Economics, Sociology, and Statistics or in the Business School. 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 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 advisers and examiners. After the completion of all coursework, the student will submit and defend a research paper demonstrating an ability to deploy advanced quantitative methods and/or mathematical modeling in service of substantive research in political science. 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, will determine whether the student has successfully completed the Minor in Quantitative Methods. The paper may not be used for seminar credit in any other course, nor may it be used to fulfill the “Research paper presentation” requirement.

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

Please click here for the methods minor guidelines for satisfying the research paper requirement for the minor. In addition, a compiled set of sample methods papers are available from the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Economics as a Minor Field

The Economics Minor is intended for Political Science doctoral students whose research plans call for a strong background in an area of economics. To be admitted to the minor, a student must submit for approval by the Committee on Economics Minor an application containing the following: a statement of research plans and an explanation of why study of economics is important to the fulfillment of those plans; a proposal for a particular course of study; and the names of at least two faculty members, including one who is a member of the Department of Economics, who have agreed to serve as advisers and examiners. Upon completion of all coursework, the student's advisers will prepare and grade an examination that covers the material the student proposed to study.

Information about the course sequence for completing the Economics minor should be obtained from the Department of Economics.

Law as a Minor Field

For a minor in law, students must take no fewer than three courses in the School of Law and must work with two professors of Law who agree to read an original research paper (i.e., a new paper that has not been prepared for course credit) and conduct an oral examination. A member of the Political Science faculty must approve these arrangements.

Special Minors

Students may, with departmental approval, fulfill the minor field requirement by constructing a minor field (a “special minor”) on an ad hoc basis. 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 student who wishes to fulfill the minor field requirement with a special minor must submit a proposal for this field to the DGS and receive approval from the DGS and another faculty sponsor. 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 student 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 DGS to have fulfilled the minor field requirement when he or she has taken and passed the three courses with an average grade of B or better, submitted the research paper, and passed the oral examination.

Deadlines
Students wishing to minor in methodology, law, economics, or a special field must complete all requirements for the minor by May 15 of the student's third year. If a student does not pass the first oral exam (i.e., if the faculty committee requires revisions of the paper and a second oral exam), all revisions and the second oral exam must be completed by the May 15 deadline. Consequently, students are encouraged to submit the paper and take the first oral exam sufficiently in advance of the May 15 deadline to allow time for revisions and a second oral exam, if required. Students who do not pass the exam and complete all course requirements for the minor by the May 15 deadline will not have completed the minor field requirement necessary to be granted candidacy for the Ph.D. and will not be allowed to continue in the program.

A regional institute Certificate does not satisfy the minor requirement.

Teaching requirement:
All M.Phil. candidates must “fulfill a one-year GSAS teaching requirement that must be completed in their first four years of residence.” In addition, GSAS multi-year teaching fellowships carry an obligation to participate 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 or section leaders in lecture 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 year seven.

Exceptions to the teaching requirement may be available to students who secure outside fellowships and/or research assistantships. Inquiries about exceptions should be made to the DGS.

Nonnative speakers of English are required to take the English Proficiency Test offered by the American Language Program before being allowed to teach.

Resident Units:
Six (including two completed for the M.A. or advanced standing)

For the Ph.D. Degree

Prerequisite Degree:
M.Phil.

Admission to Candidacy:
To be determined by the Department when the student has completed the M.Phil. degree (see under “For The M.Phil. Degree, Comprehensive Examinations” above).

Continuous Registration:
After fulfilling the residency requirement, students register for Extended Residence (ER) or Matriculation and Facilities (M&F). The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences requires students to continuously register throughout their years in the program, including the semester in which they distribute the defense copies of the dissertation.

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 for a letter grade is recommended but not required. Participation by students in earlier years of residence is by permission of the instructor. Participation is strongly recommended for students in later years of study unless they are off campus conducting research.

The courses that fulfill the “dissertation seminar” requirement are:

G9901x-G9902y, Dissertation Seminar
G8001x-8001y, Colloquium on Human Rights I & II.
G6050x, Comparative Perspectives on the State (Sociology)

These seminars are for students in all fields working on any and all topics in political science. Students will have the opportunity to present draft dissertation proposals and draft dissertation chapters.

In addition, other co-curricular seminars and workshops supervised by departmental faculty may also be used to fulfill the dissertation seminar requirement upon approval of the DGS. The main guidelines for such approval are that the seminar series meet regularly, have regular faculty supervision and attendance, and provide opportunities for students to present proposals and chapters. Several existing seminars on contentious politics, political theory, political economy, and other topics would in most cases be approved for this purpose.

Dissertation Proposal:
Every student who has passed comprehensive exams must submit a dissertation proposal by the end of the sixth semester of residence, or during the semester after passing comprehensive exams, whichever comes latest. Unless the DGS has granted an extension, the names of those students who have not submitted proposals by the second semester following comprehensive exams will be sent to the Chair, DGS, student advisers, and fellowship committee.

Dissertation Proposal Guidelines
Although many aspects of the dissertation may change as research progresses, the dissertation proposal provides the candidate with a sound starting point. It provides an opportunity for members of the Department to help sharpen the student’s approach, suggest useful resources, and help minimize the chance of research duplication. It also enables the candidate to describe the dissertation project and obtain feedback from political scientists, both specialists and non-specialists, in his or her field, which can prove useful in clarifying the project and applying for research funding. The Department’s approval of the proposal signifies a commitment to the scope and orientation of the dissertation before the candidate undertakes the major research effort.

The body of the proposal should be no longer than 12 double-spaced, typed pages in length. This is a firm ceiling; proposals that exceed this length will not be accepted by the Graduate Coordinator and circulated for review to members of the committee. In addition, the proposal should include a one-page abstract, references, a chapter outline, and a brief bibliography.

The proposal shall set forth (not necessarily in this order):

The political problem the student wishes to address.
The questions the student plans to examine and/or hypotheses to be tested or presented.
The reasons political scientists should be interested in the topic and in the potential findings of the dissertation, as well as the significance of the research for larger theoretical and political concerns in political science.
The research strategy and methodology to be employed. The Department encourages each student to develop a research strategy and deploy research methods that the student and sponsors believe are most appropriate to answering the questions raised in the proposal. The Department encourages students to employ a diversity of methods.
The principal sources available.
The qualifications or limitations that may attend the results and a projected timetable for completing the dissertation.
References, table of contents, and bibliography. This material may be in addition to the 12 pages maximum of text.

The student shall draft a clearly written proposal in conjunction with two members of the Department who agree to serve as co-sponsors (a third sponsor from within or outside the Department may be added in particular cases). A cover sheet bearing the signatures of the two sponsors must accompany the submitted proposal. Cover sheets are available from the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Three weeks before a student plans to defend his/her proposal, the student shall submit to the Graduate Program Coordinator electronic copies of the proposal together with the dissertation proposal cover sheet (which will include a title and abstract of no more than 500 words as well as the approving signatures of both sponsors). A final deadline for submission will be set for each semester.

The DGS will assign to each proposal two readers drawn from faculty members outside of the student's major field and will designate one of these readers as the chair of the examining committee for that proposal. When submitting the proposal, students should include suggestions (designating order of preference) for qualified outside readers. There is no guarantee that these readers will be assigned, however. Students will be required to defend their dissertation proposals orally in a meeting with the two assigned readers and one or both of the two dissertation sponsors. After the oral defense, the chair of the examining committee will write an assessment of the proposal and will assign the proposal a grade of pass or fail. The assessment will be sent to the DGS, the student, and the student's dissertation sponsors. A student who fails must submit a proposal for reconsideration within four months of the failure. In order to proceed to the dissertation, students must have an approved proposal.

Helpful Materials

The following material is available from the Graduate Program Coordinator:

Dissertation Proposal Cover Sheet. (You must attach this completed form to the front of all copies of the proposal to be submitted to the Review Committee.)
“Thinking About Research Projects,” 1998. A set of questions created by Professor Charles Tilly to help you clarify your research project.
“Outlining Research Proposals,” 1994. A useful reference piece written by Professor Douglas Chalmers.
Sample copies of earlier dissertation proposals. It is useful to review several proposals to appreciate the range of possible approaches that have been employed in the past.

Dissertation:
The student must prepare a dissertation, embodying original research, under the supervision of a sponsor approved for that Ph.D. program by the Executive Committee of the Faculty of the Graduate School and the Dean.

Final Examination:
The Dissertation Defense is the final requirement for completing the Ph.D. Once the faculty adviser has approved a dissertation as ready for defense, he or she assembles a committee of examiners in conjunction with the Department Chair’s office. The application for the dissertation defense is forwarded to the Dissertation Office, which will schedule the defense.

Usually, no more than seven years of candidacy for the Ph.D. degree from the time of initial registration in the Department is allowed. Semesters of residence granted as advanced standing are not counted toward the time limit for fulfilling M.Phil. or Ph.D. requirements.

See the University regulations for defense and permanent deposit of the dissertation under Degree Requirements in the Bulletin of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

*Please note that a student's last date of registration in the Ph.D. program is the semester in which they distribute copies of their dissertation to the defense committee.