Coursework Requirements and Transfer of Credits

Students holding a master's degree must complete a minimum of 48 credits of coursework and an additional 24 credits of thesis research, yielding the School of Graduate Studies' minimum of 72 credits required for the doctoral degree.

Students in the doctoral program are required to take the following five classes:

Course Requirements	*Credits*
Theory: 16:762:624 Planning, Public Policy, and Social Theory	3
Methods: 34:833:628 Advanced Qualitative Methods 34:970:630 Discrete Choice Methods One additional advanced methods or research design course related to the student's dissertation research, subject to approval by the doctoral program director	3
Research Workshop: 16:762:626 Advanced Scholarly Research	3
Recommended methods courses offered at the Bloustein School include: 34:833:635 Survey Research 34:833:632 Cost Benefit Analysis 34:970:591 Introduction to GIS 34:970:592 Topics in GIS 34:970:594 Program Evaluation These satisfy the additional methods requirement, but students are encouraged to take others offered throughout the university
Elective Coursework	33
Research Credits (minimum 24)	24
Total Ph.D. Credit Requirement	72

Students who enter the program without a master's degree must complete a minimum of 63 credits (calculated as 45 credits for a master's degree, less 6 credits for the master's thesis, plus the 24 additional didactic credits required of a student already holding a master's degree) plus an additional 24 credits of thesis research (minimum of 87 credits).

All first- and second-year doctoral students are required to submit a Course of Study (COS) form in the fall semester. The COS is reviewed by the doctoral program director and other faculty members (COS Committee) in a meeting with each doctoral student in order to develop an individually crafted program that should guide the student's course selection.

First-year doctoral students are required to attend a doctoral seminar. Attendance at this seminar is expected for all doctoral students in the program.

All doctoral students have the opportunity to present a formal paper on their research at doctoral conferences periodically held at the Bloustein School.