Graduate Programs: Academic Programs
Ph.D. Program
The Ph.D. program requires a minimum of 72 semester credits, including 42 semester credits in courses numbered 500 and above, a minimum of 30 credits from formal courses, a maximum of 30 credits from a M.S., and a maximum of 12 credits for the dissertation.
Students are required to complete the following courses with at least a B grade by the end of the second year after full admission to the Ph.D. program:
- EC 704: Macroeconomic Analysis II
- EC 706: Microeconomic Analysis II
- EA 570: Methodology of Economic Research
- EA 635: Applied Econometrics II
- Capstone Field Course (either EA 705, EA 710, or EA 740)
Full time students are required to pass a preliminary examination at the end of the first year after full admission to the Ph.D. program. The intent of the examination is to test and certify that a student has the basic skills and abilities to succeed in Ph.D. coursework and chosen field of study in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Skills and abilities are tested in three areas: microeconomic theory, quantitative methods, and policy or welfare analysis.
The preliminary examination will be given in a 4-hour written format. You must have a working knowledge in microeconomic theory, econometrics, and policy or welfare analysis. The typical format for the exam is four equally weighted questions in three areas:
- Policy and Welfare (EA 572 and EA 678) Choose one from two questions
- Quantitative Methods (EA 535)
- Microeconomic Theory - Applied Production Economics (EA 505) and/or Applied Consumer Theory (EC 506)
The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics requires two field exams, a course field and a tested field:
Course Field
- A course field in an area outside your tested field is required of all Ph.D. students. A course field consists of a B (3.0 grade points) or higher in two courses approved as a field by the graduate coordinator (approved on GS-6-DARE).
Tested Field
- The tested field is given the week before courses begin in the fall and spring. You are expected to have econometric and microeconomic skills equivalent to EA 635 and EC 706, respectively. There will be questions from two core classes and a choice among supporting classes in the following two fields:
- Resource and Environmental Economics
- Core Courses: EA 540 and EA 541
- Supporting Courses: EA 542 and EA 547
- Agricultural Economics in: Production, Marketing or Agribusiness
- Core Courses: EA 505 and EA 510
- Supporting Courses: EA 508, EA 624
- Resource and Environmental Economics
The Ph.D. course for the resource and environmental field is EA 740. Either of the two courses, EA 710 or EA 705 are sufficient for the agricultural economics field. While mastery of content from the Ph.D. course in the chosen field is not requisite for the exam, students are expected to take this course prior to taking the exam if possible.
Dissertation
- Students take primary responsibility for identifying a dissertation topic, developing the dissertation content, and preparing the presentation and format of the dissertation. The dissertation is supervised by the student's advisor and committee and must be approved by them. As an alternative to the standard dissertation format, the advisor and committee may approve a dissertation constructed around the presentation of three publishable journal article integrated around a central theme.