Requirements

V. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRAM COMPLETION: THE 2-4-6 PLAN

The graduate program encourages our students to complete their PhDs within six years. We have developed a 2-4-6 Plan that outlines on the program’s expectations. Following this outline is vital to remain in good standing in the graduate program. If a student is unable to meet these deadlines and fails to demonstrate consistent, satisfactory progress toward their degree, they may be discontinued from the graduate program. In some cases, students can request a limited probationary extension (see below).

A. Deadlines for Ph.D. Program Completion

Below are specific deadlines for key milestones. Ideally students meet these milestones ahead of the deadline.

QP1: Masters Thesis

First Qualifying Paper (QP1) sign on – by November 15th of Year 2.
First Qualifying Paper (QP1) sign off – by June 15th at the end of Year 2.
Meeting the QP1 sign-off deadline is facilitated by students’ participation in the Second-Year Paper (QP1) Seminar

QP2: 2nd Paper Project

Second Qualifying Paper (QP2) sign on – by November 15th of Year 3
Second Qualifying Paper (QP2) sign off – by November 15th of Year 4

Dissertation Project

Dissertation Proposal Defense (Candidacy Exam) – by November 15th of Year 5
Dissertation Defense – by August 15th of Year 6 

Program Probationary Extensions

In certain circumstances, students can request a probationary extension.

Successful extension requests depend on two things. First, the student’s advisor(s) and committee members must confirm that the student is making reasonable progress on the specific writing or research project. Second, the GPD and Graduate Program Committee must determine that reasonable factors (e.g., illness, family issues, visa or travel issues for international students, a demanding project or methodology) are preventing the timely completion of key milestones.

A probationary extension may be granted of up to 2 months for QP1 and 3 months for QP2 and the dissertation proposal defense. Extensions for qualifying papers depend on approval from the Graduate Program Committee, a committee of tenured and tenure track faculty members that is chaired by the GPD, that review the circumstances of each case.

For requirements that come after the qualifying paper stage of the program (the dissertation proposal defense, dissertation project), probationary extensions are negotiated with the student, their advisor(s), committee members, and the GPD.

Failing to meet a probationary extension will result in a formal academic warning and possible discontinuation from the program. Probationary extension requests will be taken into consideration during the required second-year assessment (see the following section).

Program and Faculty Second-Year Assessment of Progress

In their second year of the program, graduate students will be evaluated for academic progress and suitability to continue in the graduate program. This assessment determines whether students continue in the program after the second year. A student is in their second year once they have spent one full academic year in the department.

1. Each fall semester, the GPD will review the grades of all 2nd year students from the Fall and Spring semesters of their first year in the program. The GPD will also solicit updates from the advisor(s) of 2nd year students, including an update on progress toward signing on to QP1 by the deadline. If necessary, QP1 committee members will be given an opportunity to comment on student progress.
The GPD will present any specific concerns to the members of the Graduate Program Committee. Together, they will decide if a student should receive a formal academic warning. Grounds for such a warning include poor grades, two or more incomplete courses in a semester, and/or a lack of demonstrated progress toward signing on to QP1 by November 15th.

2. In the spring semester, the Graduate Program Committee, in consultation with 2nd year students’ advisors, committee members, and the full faculty, will review the progress of all 2nd year students. Students demonstrating insufficient engagement, poor performance, or related issues will receive an “unsatisfactory” evaluation and receive a formal academic warning.

3. Students with 2 academic warnings (e.g., warnings in both the fall and spring of the second year) will be discontinued from the program pending approval from the Graduate Program Committee members and the GPD.
Terminal MA Option: Students who receive 2 academic warnings prior to completing QP1 will be given the opportunity to complete a terminal MA. A terminal MA requires successfully passing QP1. Students opting for the terminal MA under these conditions will not receive funding if research and writing for QP1 continues into year 3. Providing they have all required courses and credits for an MA, they can graduate with an October degree deadline without additional costs to them or the program.

4. All students in their 3rd year will be evaluated during the IDP process for reasonable progress toward QP2 and the dissertation proposal. The students’ advisors and committee members will provide detailed updates on student progress. Failure to meet QP2 or dissertation proposal deadlines may result in an official academic warning and possible discontinuation from the program.

5. Dissertations are demanding long-term projects with the length of completion time dependent on many factors. Students writing their dissertations and who need to continue in the program beyond year 6 will negotiate deadlines with their advisor(s), committee members and the GPD, with the approval of the Graduate Program Committee. Continued missed negotiated deadlines may result in discontinuation from the program.

Table 1. Summary of milestones and deadlines.

Note: The GPD and the department chair become the final arbitrators if disagreements arise among the student’s advisors and/or among committee members, or the Graduate Program Committee.

B. Dissertation Completion Maximums

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS), Rutgers University New Brunswick, strongly urges all Ph.D. students to complete their program in seven years as an established norm, and within a maximum of ten years. Students in their seven years and beyond must fill out yearly “Extension of Time” forms that the GPD must approve, along with the Dean of SGS. For more information, see also the SGS Graduate Student Handbook. Again, those students who have not completed their dissertations by the end of year 7 may be placed on a formal Leave of Absence.

C. Grandfather Clause

The 2-4-6 plan and its deadlines and probationary extensions apply to all students who start the program in 2025 or later. They must follow the plan for completion set forth here. Students who started the program prior to fall 2025 continue to follow the 3-6-9 plan but with stricter attention paid to the guidelines vs. deadlines as originally designed.

D. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROGRAM COMPLETION: 2-4-6 PLAN

a. As part of earning the Ph.D., students first earn an MA. One cannot complete the Ph.D. without first completing the MA requirements. To earn an MA, students must complete:

• 6 required courses with a grade of B or above
  i. Soc. 501 - Sociological Research Methods
  ii. Soc. 503/504 – Second Year Paper (Master’s Paper) Seminar
  iii. Soc. 515 - Classical Sociological Theory
  iv. Soc. 516 - Contemporary Sociological Theory
  v. Soc. 541 - Statistical Methods in Sociology
  vi. Soc. 542 – Statistical Methods in Sociology II
  Note: 541 and 542 MUST be taken in sequence
• Four elective courses: Regarding specific courses, 1 course may be an Independent Study, and up to 2 may be outside the department. Note: Information on the specific mix of courses that may be taken at the Master’s level and across the entirety of one’s program of study can be found in Section V, subsection F below, specifically under the headings “Independent Studies” and “Courses Outside of the Sociology Department.” To foreshadow those instructions, please note that no more than three courses from outside the department may be taken for credit over the course of the student’s entire career in the department, including methods or substantive courses in other departments at Rutgers—New Brunswick, courses at other Rutgers campuses (for example, at Newark), and courses offered at other universities through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium.
• First-year student Proseminar (701/702) (Must register with the Graduate Program Coordinator. Counts as one research credit per semester, held every second week throughout the academic year)
• Attendance at all or close to all departmental Colloquium events.
• Pass QP1 (also known as the Second-Year Paper or Master’s Thesis)

Upon completion of the above, a student is eligible to earn an MA.

b. Having earned the MA, students move on to the remainder of the Ph.D. requirements. To earn a Ph.D. students must:

• Satisfy all requirements for the M.A. degree
  • Complete one additional required methods course with a grade of B or above
  • Student can choose methods/statistics course from the following list (or newly approved methods courses in Sociology as they arise). These currently include:
  o Soc. 520 – Comparative Historical Methods
  o Soc. 573 – Ethnographic Methods
  o Soc. 615 – Qualitative Research Methods
  o Soc. 616 – Social Network Analysis
  o Soc. 617 – Computational Sociology
  o Soc. 6xx – Multilevel and Longitudinal Data Analysis
  o Students may request to use an intermediate/advanced statistics courses at RU-Newark in the Criminal Justice program to fulfill this requirement
  o An approved methods course offered in one of the other Social Science departments at Rutgers—New Brunswick
• Complete 5 additional elective courses. One may be an Independent Study, and up to 2 may be outside the department. As noted above, and discussed below in Section V. subsection D, no more than 3 courses from outside the department may be taken for credit over the course of the student’s entire career in the department.
• Complete 1 semester of a Writing Seminar (703) for research credits, if needed (see section V, subsection E below for more details on the Writing Seminar).
• Complete 24 research credits (these do not substitute for course or Independent Study credits. See section V. 4 below for more details.). Students should register for about 20 of these while still on a funding package. Once the funding package ends, students pay for research credits out of pocket.
• Pass QP2 (also sometimes called the Second Qualifying Paper (see section VI on Qualifying Papers for details)
• Pass the dissertation proposal defense
• Complete the dissertation with a successful defense
• Submit all required materials to the School of Graduate Studies

E. Course Information: Independent Studies, and Courses Outside the Department

This section contains information on some of the various courses one can take, and restrictions concerning them.

a. Independent Study courses

Independent Studies are based on arrangements made between a professor and one or more graduate students to study a mutually-agreed-upon subject for one semester. In order to register for an Independent Study, the student (in consultation with the professor) must compile a syllabus that specifies the required reading and writing requirements as well as the meeting schedule. This syllabus must be submitted to the Graduate Program Director for approval at least one week before the start of the semester. Independent studies are considered as equivalent to seminars in workload and hence they count as elective courses for degree requirements. RA work or co-authored projects are not equivalent to an independent study. Students can take no more than two Independent Studies during their time in the graduate program, one counted toward the M.A. requirements and one toward the Ph.D. requirements. [Also please note that Independent Study courses do not count as part of the faculty member’s normal teaching load.]

b. Courses Outside of the Sociology Department

i. Number of outside courses - Students may take up to three courses in total outside of the Sociology Department (in other Rutgers departments, at other Rutgers campuses, or at Inter-University Doctoral Consortium schools) that count toward their overall elective requirements.

Specifically, they may take 1-2 for the M.A. degree requirements and 1-2 for the Ph.D. degree requirements but totaling no more than three overall. These “outside” courses include methods or substantive courses in other departments at Rutgers—New Brunswick, courses at other Rutgers campuses (for example, at Newark), and courses offered at other universities through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium.

Some certificate programs at Rutgers may require students to take non-Sociology courses; please be attentive to those requirements as you consider your overall program of study, including how you will make use of the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium.

Please consult the Graduate Program Director if you have questions. Our goal is to permit each student to pursue a program of study that serves their intellectual needs while also ensuring that a sufficient portion of each student’s curriculum is delivered by our own department.

ii. Inter-University Doctoral Consortium Courses - Graduate students at Rutgers may take graduate courses at several other universities in the region (e.g., Columbia University, CUNY-Graduate Center, the New School, New York University, Princeton University) at no extra cost. Many students find these courses to be significantly important in their intellectual development, and we encourage students to seek out stimulating opportunities. Enrollment in courses at other institutions through this program requires the permission of the student’s advisor, the Sociology Graduate Director, and the instructor of the course at the host institution. Students in their first year may not be eligible. The form required to register for courses in the consortium is available on the Graduate School webpage. As noted above, these classes count as courses taken outside the department.

c. Grades and Incompletes

i. Grades - You must receive grades of A, B+, or B in 14 of the 16 required and elective courses to receive a Ph.D. All required courses must have a B or higher. No more than 2 courses below a B will be accepted for credit from your electives. Note: Rutgers does not have A+ or any minus grades. Students should think of B+ as an A- grade.]

ii. Incomplete - We strongly discourage students from taking an Incomplete in a course. Having an Incomplete frequently impairs a student’s ability to complete subsequent work on time. If a student is unable to complete all the requirements for a course, the instructor may assign a grade of Incomplete if they think the circumstances are warranted.

The Graduate School requires that a student make up the work for an Incomplete within twelve months of the end of semester in which the incomplete grade was assigned (e.g., an Incomplete in a course from the fall semester 2024 must be completed and the grade turned in by the end of the grading period for the fall semester 2025). NOTE: per SGS recommendation, all students must finalize all incompletes BEFORE defending their dissertation proposal.

Excessive Incompletes: Any student with two or more Incompletes in any given semester will be given an official academic warning and may face discontinuation from the program. Further, SGS requires that a student with two incompletes has only one semester to reduce the Incompletes to one. Any student who has not made up their final Incomplete within one year will receive a second official academic warning and will be discontinued from the program.

d. Transfer of Credits

Students may apply to transfer a maximum of 12 credits towards the MA degree requirements at Rutgers. Students may apply to transfer an additional 12 credits (maximum) towards the PhD degree requirements. The GPD, however, has the right to limit the total number of credit transfers to less than the maximum to ensure the student is sufficiently engaged with the curriculum offered by the department and with the student’s cohort.

Transfer credits may be used for required or elective courses in the degree program upon approval of the Graduate Director. It is generally not possible to get credit for courses critical to cohort building and department-specific Ph.D. training, such as Soc 501 and Soc 542. Courses eligible for transfer must be regular numerically graded or letter-graded classes. Courses graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory, or pass/fail are not eligible. Courses with grades below B cannot be transferred for credit and individually arranged reading courses are also not accepted for transfer credit.

It is possible to receive credit for a seminar transfer but not necessarily for the same number of credits, especially if the seminar meets for fewer weeks or the assessments seem less robust.

Important: The transfer of credit can only be made after completion of 12 graduate credits at Rutgers. Students must arrange to speak with the Graduate Program Director well in advance of making plans for their request transfer of credits. It takes time to arrange appropriate evaluations of seminars to determine whether they meet our program standards and at the appropriate credit level. Please note that the School of Graduate Studies generally does not approve the transfer of credits for courses that were taken more than 6 years before the transfer request.

F. Second Year Paper (QP1) Seminar (503/504) and Writing Seminar (703)

Second-year students are required to take the Second-Year Paper (QP1) Seminar which fulfills the Writing Seminar requirement. Second-year students will register for the Second-Year Paper (QP1) Seminar for course credit (503 fall semester/504 spring semester – each for 1.5 credits). Soc 503/504 is expressly designed to assist students in the process of researching and writing their QP1. Students on fellowship will normally take three courses in addition to this seminar. Students on TAship in their second year may elect to take only two courses plus this seminar.

The Writing Seminar. After the Second-Year (QP1) Paper Seminar, students are encouraged to enroll in the Writing Seminar (703), if interested, but will do so for research credit. The Writing Seminar (703) will be offered in the spring semester for all students, contingent on demand. The Writing Seminar (703) supports the development of writing skills for completing and polishing a piece of sociological work (e.g., second qualifying paper, dissertation proposal, manuscript for submission for journal review). Because it is taken for research credit, this course is graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

F. Research Credits (Read carefully)

Students must complete 24 research credits to graduate with the PhD degree. In our department research credits signify that a student is working on independent research stretched over a significant chunk of time, monitored and guided by their faculty advisor(s). They account for a student’s independent scholarly work until the point of degree completion. The department advises that students complete approximately 20 research credits by the end of their 5th year in the program, although the exact number for each student depends on their pace to completion of the Ph.D. While on a funding package, these credits are paid for by the department. Once the package expires, students pay for these credits out of pocket.

The remaining 4 research credits are spread out during the remainder of a student’s time in the department. Students MUST use at least 1 research credit each semester while completing their dissertation as an ABD. Hence, students need to accurately estimate the total time to degree completion. Once a student is All-but-Dissertation (ABD), only 1 credit is required to be a full-time student. However, after your funding package has ended you will be responsible for paying for the research credits used. Plan carefully to allocate your research credits throughout the program. SGS does NOT allow students to exceed 24 credits. It is important not to exceed 24 total research credits through the completion of the Ph.D.

Below is the suggested research credit timeline for a student who completes the Ph.D. at the end of their 6th year. Note that this timeline will vary based on individual circumstances that students can discuss with the Graduate Program Director or Program Coordinator.

Table 1. Suggested Allocation of Research Credits for a 6-year program

a. Proseminar

After year 2, students should register for research credits with one of their advisors—that is, with either their primary advisor or the lead reader for their final qualifying paper (except when taking the Writing Seminar for research credits). Students should inform their instructor that they are signing up for research credits with them and should agree upon the level of communication and work expect to earn an S grade (Satisfactory). This generally involves making tangible progress on research and producing some pieces of writing (e.g., a draft of a final qualifying paper, dissertation proposal, dissertation chapter, or article for submission). The student and advisor should stay in regular contact over the course of the semester.

Once a student is no longer receiving a fellowship or TAship from the University, research credits must be paid for by the student (or external funders, if such arrangements are in place). Note: Under no circumstances will SAS provide financial support beyond 75 total credits.

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