Demography

Students can earn a dual-title master’s degree (M.A./M.S.) and/or dual-title Ph.D. degree in Demography. All dual-title degrees must be paired and completed simultaneously with a graduate degree in one of our partner programs. The list of participating partner programs is available from the Demography Chair.

The Demography dual-title master’s and Ph.D. degrees enable students from diverse graduate programs to attain and be identified with the content, techniques, methodology, and policy implications of demography, while maintaining a close association with areas of application. Dual-title Demography students study:

1. the size, composition, and distribution of populations and changes in these characteristics;
2. the social, cultural, economic, spatial, and policy processes that alter population characteristics and demographic processes, such as fertility and family transitions, migration, health and aging, and mortality;
3. the consequences of demographic change for societies, population subgroups, communities, households and individuals; and
4. how demographic characteristics and processes interact with biological, psychological, behavioral, social, cultural, economic, policy, and/or spatial processes to affect individual, group, and population outcomes.

The Demography dual-title degree program is administered by the Demography Chair, who is responsible for management of the program with support from the Demography Executive Committee. The Chair maintains program definition, identifies faculty and courses appropriate to the degree, and recommends policies and procedures for its operation to the Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

Admission Requirements

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in GCAC-208 Dual-Title Graduate Degree Programs.

To pursue a dual-title degree in Demography, the student must apply to the Graduate School and be admitted to a participating graduate program.

Students applying for admission to the dual-title in Demography must apply and be admitted to the Demography dual-title program prior to taking a qualifying exam with Demography content.

The formal application requires students to declare their specific demographic research interests, state how a graduate degree in demography relates to their academic and professional goals, and provide the application materials they submitted to their primary program for graduate student admission. Applicants must provide a positive recommendation from a Demography Graduate Faculty member in their graduate primary program.

Degree Requirements

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in GCAC-208 Dual-Title Graduate Degree Programs.

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 for the dual-title in Demography described here, as established by the Demography Chair. Within this framework, final course selection is determined by students and their degree committees

Master's Degrees

For the dual-title Demography M.A./ M.S. degree, 12 course credits are required as follows:

Particular courses may satisfy both the graduate primary program requirements and those of the Demography dual-title program. The thesis supervisor must be a member of the Graduate Faculty recommended by the chair or the graduate officer of the program granting the degree and a member of the Demography faculty.

Doctoral Degrees

For the dual-title Demography Ph.D. degree, a minimum of 19 credits is required as follows:

Particular courses may satisfy both the graduate primary program requirements and those of the Demography dual-title program. For students entering with a master's degree from another institution, equivalent course credits may be accepted.

The qualifying examination committee for the dual-title Ph.D. degree must include at least one Graduate Faculty member from the Demography program. Faculty members who hold appointments in both programs’ Graduate Faculty may serve in a combined role.

It is preferred that students take a single qualifying examination, containing elements of both the primary program and Demography. However, in cases when students matriculate into the Demography dual-title after they have already completed the primary program qualifying exam or when the policies of the primary program preclude the inclusion of Demography in the primary program qualifying exam, a second supplemental qualifying exam focusing on key demographic topics organized by the Demography Chair may be taken for the Demography dual title before completion of the fourth semester of graduate study, according to policy GCAC-604 and the guidelines of the dual-title program.

Dual-title graduate degree students may require an additional semester to fulfill requirements for both areas of study and, therefore, the qualifying examination may be delayed one semester beyond the normal period allowable (but not past the fourth semester, per Graduate Council Policy).

In addition to the general Graduate Council requirements for Ph.D. committees, the chair and at least one additional member of the Ph.D. committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty in Demography. The Demography faculty members on the student's committee are responsible for administering an examination in demography that constitutes a portion of the comprehensive examination of the dual-title doctoral student. Students in the dual-title program are required to write and orally defend a dissertation on a topic that is approved in advance by their Ph.D. committee and reflects their original research and education in both their primary graduate program and Demography. Upon completion of the doctoral dissertation, the candidate must pass a final oral examination (the dissertation defense) to earn the Ph.D. degree. The dissertation must be accepted by the Ph.D. committee, the head of the graduate program, and the Fox Graduate School.

Minor

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements for minors in Graduate Council policy GCAC-218 Minors.

A Ph.D. minor in Demography is available for doctoral students in graduate programs other than the dual-title participating programs who find it advantageous to include demographic content, methods, and policy analysis in their program of study. The student's Ph.D. committee must approve the choice of this minor, and one member of the Ph.D. committee must be from the Demography Graduate Faculty.

To qualify for a minor in Demography, students must satisfy the requirements of their graduate primary program and take at least 15 credits as follows:

Particular courses may satisfy both the graduate primary program requirements and those of the Demography minor.

Student Aid

Graduate assistantships available to students in this program and other forms of student aid are described in the Tuition & Funding section of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School’s website. Students on graduate assistantships must adhere to the course load limits set by the Fox Graduate School.

Graduate students participating in the dual-title Demography program are eligible for Demography Research Assistant positions, which are awarded on a semester basis.

Dual-title Demography students who are U.S. citizens are also eligible for demography-related National Institutes of Health T32 predoctoral training positions and funding.

Courses

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 699 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

Demography (DEMOG) Course List

Learning Outcomes

Master's Degrees

1. KNOW: Explain key theories, concepts, and methods of demography.
2. THINK: Analyze complex social science problems using demographic reasoning.
3. APPLY/CREATE: Create and execute independent research that produces original insights using demographic approaches.
4. COMMUNICATE: Present demographic questions, methods, and findings clearly and accurately to academic audiences.
5. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: Demonstrate ethical and responsible conduct of demographic research, including adherence to professional standards for human subjects protection and responsible data stewardship.

Doctoral Degrees

1. KNOW: Integrate advanced demographic theories, concepts, and methods with a primary disciplinary field to advance interdisciplinary demographic scholarship.
2. APPLY/CREATE: Synthesize existing research to identify gaps in knowledge and key debates within demography.
3. THINK: Critically evaluate complex social science problems from a demographic perspective and formulate well-reasoned, evidence-based demographic arguments.
4. APPLY/CREATE: Accurately read, manage, evaluate, and interpret data using appropriate techniques and methodologies.
5. APPLY/CREATE: Create and execute independent research that significantly advances knowledge within interdisciplinary demographic scholarship.
6. COMMUNICATE: Communicate conceptual arguments, methodological approaches, and research findings clearly and accurately to interdisciplinary academic and professional audiences.
7. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: Demonstrate ethical and responsible conduct of demographic research, including adherence to professional standards of human subjects protection, responsible data stewardship and reporting, and authentic authorship.

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