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 Graduate School-New Brunswick minimum of 72 credits required for the doctoral degree.
Up to 24 of the 48 coursework credits may be met by the transfer of credits for graduate courses completed at other institutions, subject to conditions outlined by the Graduate School and approval of the doctoral program director. Such transfer credits do not normally include studio courses, independent or directed studies, or master's thesis research, and may not exceed 40 percent of the credits applied toward a previous graduate degree.
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Course Requirements
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Credits
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16:762:624 Planning, Public Policy, and Social Theory
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3
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16:762:626 Advanced Scholarly Research
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3
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34:833:628 Advanced Qualitative Methods
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3
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34:970:630 Discrete Choice Methods
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3
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Additional methods or research design elective
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3
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General elective coursework *
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33
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Coursework Total
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48
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Research credits (minimum)
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24
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Total Credits for the Ph.D. (minimum)
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72
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*Up to 24 of these credits can be transferred in from a prior graduate program of study, subject to approval in advance by the doctoral program director.
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).
Students in the doctoral program are required to take two courses in theory (6 credits) and three courses in methods (9 credits) that exceed the requirements of coursework taken in completion of a master's program in urban planning or public policy. Required theory and methods courses include 16:762:624 Planning, Public Policy, and Social Theory; 16:762:626 Advanced Scholarly Research; 34:833:628 Advanced Qualitative Methods; 34:970:630 Discrete Choice Methods; and a third advanced methods or research design course.
All first- and second-year doctoral students are required to submit a Program of Study (POS) form in the fall semester. The POS is reviewed by the doctoral program director and other faculty members (POS committee) in a meeting with each doctoral student. The POS process guides the student's selection of appropriate courses and development of a course of study that is individually tailored to the student's specific research interests.
The doctoral program provides frequent opportunities for student and faculty interaction in the form of speaker seminars, a professional development colloquium, research lectures presented in defense of dissertation proposals and completed dissertations, an annual doctoral conference, and other forums. Active participation in these events is an integral part of doctoral education and attendance is expected of all students in the program.
