Graduate Program in Demography
Program
The Demography dual-title degree program is administered by the program director and Demography Program Advisory Committee, who is responsible for the program's management. The director and advisory committee maintain the program definition, identify faculty and courses appropriate to the program, and recommend policies and procedures for its operation to the Dean of the Graduate School. The program enables students from diverse graduate departments to attain knowledge of and be identified with the content, techniques, methodology, and policy implications of demography, while maintaining a close association with areas of application. Demography studies the size, composition, and distribution of the population; changes in these characteristics; the processes that determine these changes (fertility, mortality, aging, family status changes, immigration); and their social, economic, and cultural causes and consequences.
Admission Requirements
To pursue a dual-title degree under this program, the student must first apply to the Graduate School and be admitted through one of the following graduate degree programs: Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Health Policy and Administration, Agricultural Economics, Rural Sociology, or Human Development and Family Studies. Upon admission to one of the above programs and recommendation from a Demography program faculty member in that department, the student will be admitted to the dual-title degree program in Demography.
Penn State's Graduate School states that scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) are required for admission. At the discretion of a graduate program, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in a program without these scores. (For conditions for provisional admission, see the "Application and Admission" section of the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin.) Requirements listed below are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the "General Information" section of the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin. TOEFL scores are required of all students with English as a second language. Published Graduate School requirements apply in all cases.
All application materials should be submitted by January 5th, for the best chance of admission and financial aid. Applicants should have a junior-senior cumulative average well above the minimum of 3.00, as well as appropriate courses in statistics and substantive knowledge as specified by the department to which they are applying. The application folder should include three letters of recommendation and a statement describing and explaining the applicant's interest in the Demography program and goals for during and after graduate studies.
Degree Requirements
To qualify for a dual-title degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the graduate program in which they are enrolled, including the communication/foreign language requirements, if any. In addition, they must satisfy the minimum requirements in the Demography program option described below, as established by the Demography program committee. Within this framework, final course selection is determined by students and their degree committees.
Master's Degree
- Complete a minimum of 12 demography-related course credits with study in the following curriculum categories:
- Disciplinary survey course> (3 credits)
- Demographic methods courses (3 credits)
SOC 573 Required - Seminars in demographic processes (3 credits)
- Seminars in population studies (3 credits)
Particular courses may satisfy the requirements of both the graduate major program and the Demography option.
- Write a master's thesis on a topic related to demography. The thesis supervisor must be a faculty member of the graduate program granting the degree as well as the Demography program.
- Enroll in DEMOG 590 (Colloquium, Professional Development) for 1 credit each fall semester in residence.
Ph.D. Degree
- Complete a minimum of 24 demography-related course credits. The following is required as a minimum in each curriculum category:
- Disciplinary survey course (3 credits)
- Demographic methods courses (6 credits)
- Seminars in demographic processes (6 credits)
- Seminars in population studies (3 credits)
- Elective core demography courses (6 credits)
A controlled-enrollment individual studies course (DEMOG 596, 3 credits) can be used to enhance training in demographic scholarship, methods, or research experience. Final course selection is determined in consultation with the student's doctoral committee. For students entering with a master's degree from another institution, equivalent course credits can be accepted. At least 3 demography course credits must be taken outside the graduate major program department.
- Choose demography as one of the main areas of the Ph.D. comprehensive examination. A four-member committee is required for a dual-title degree program. The chair or director of dissertation research and at least one additional member of the doctoral committee must be members of the Demography program faculty. The Demography faculty members on the student's committee are responsible for administering an examination in demography, which constitutes a portion of the comprehensive examination of the doctoral student in the program option.
- Write a dissertation on a topic related to demography.
- Enroll in DEMOG 590 (Colloquium, Professional Development) for 1 credit each fall semester in residence.
Minor in Demography
A Ph.D. minor in Demography is available for doctoral students in graduate programs who find it advantageous to include demographic content, methods, and policy analysis in their program of study. The student's doctoral committee must approve of the choice of this minor, and one member of the doctoral committee must be from the Demography program faculty. To qualify for a minor in Demography, students must satisfy the requirements of their graduate major program and take at least 15 course credits in demography in addition to colloquium credits. A minimum of 3 credits is required in each of the following: (1) disciplinary survey courses, (2) demographic techniques (SOC 573), (3) seminars in demographic processes, and (4) seminars in population studies. For students in departments participating in the dual-title major (Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics; Anthropology; Economics; Health Policy and Administration; Human Development and Family Studies; Rural Sociology; and Sociology), all credit requirements for a Demography minor must be in core demography courses outside his/her major field.
Doctoral minor students must enroll in DEMOG 590 (Colloquium, Professional Development) for 1 credit during each fall semester in residence.
Student Aid
In addition to the fellowships, graduate assistantships, and other forms of financial aid described in the student aid section of the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin or offered through the student's participating department, the following awards typically have been available to graduate students in this program:
- NICHD traineeships in family demography
- Demography program and Population Research Institute research assistantships
Last modified: 08/05/09 | Contact Webmaster
