Our Ph.D. program

Requirements for applying are:  

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• A 3.0 grade point average or higher on a 4.0 base for the last two years of undergraduate studies or satisfactory performance at the graduate level.
• GRE scores (Verbal score of at least 30th percentile and a quantitative score of 50th percentile or higher)
• A minimum of three reference letters
• 1-2 paged Personal Statement
  
• Transcript
• A minimum TOFEL score of 90 on the internet-based test (iBT) with subscores of at least 20 in each area for students whose primary language is not English.  An IELTS score of 6.5 is also acceptable for this admission requirement.

APPLY NOW

Applying econometric tools to quantify and address societal problems. This field focuses on applying advanced econometric tools to address a broad range of economic problems with a strong focus on computational methods and programming. Students will become proficient in a variety of statistical software packages, such as R, Matlab, and STATA, and learn to build their own "custom-tailored" algorithms to solve applied econometric problems. Students can take courses in both advanced econometric theory and applied methods. The latter include nonlinear optimization, panel data econometrics, time series analysis, and Bayesian econometrics. Additional elective courses, such as time series analysis, nonparametric methods, and spatial statistics are available through the Department of Statistics. The analytical skills acquired through the applied econometrics field combine well with any of the other field areas offered in the department.  For this reason, Ph.D. students often choose Applied Econometrics as one of their main fields.

Evaluation of the economic impact of environmental and resource problems and policies. This field focuses on the economic implications of environmental and natural resource issues and policies.  Students who choose environmental and resource economics as one of their Ph.D. fields will take two field courses - “Environmental Economic Theory and Policy Analysis” and “Dynamic Optimization and Natural Resource Economics”. The first course develops the theoretical foundation for environmental and natural resource policy designs and covers externalities, public goods, property rights, and the design of optimal environmental and natural resource policies. Research projects by recent Ph.D. students include public preferences for forest protection from invasive infection as an ecological indicator of climate change, robust nonparametric and Bayesian econometric approaches for combining secondary data to inform environmental policy, optimal design of residential outdoor watering policies, demand for natural gas as a transportation fuel, and cost-effective strategies to control nonpoint source pollution.

Factors and policies affecting economic prospects, poverty, and inequality in developing countries. International trade negotiations, trade agreements, disputes, and barriers to trade. This field focuses on the economics of development and international trade. Students who complete a field in international development and trade will take at least two field courses - “Topics in Applied Development Economics” and “International Trade and Finance”. These courses cover topics such as economic theories of development; methods for measuring poverty and inequality; evaluation of public policies for poverty reduction and economic growth; interactions between environment, health, and development; methods for measuring technical change; political economy of trade; imperfect competition and intra-industry trade; and monetary aspects of international trade. Students have conducted research in areas such as the impact on food security in Ethiopia of improved maize varieties, asset indexes and measurements of poverty in Zimbabwe, returns to agricultural research, non-tariff measures and their impact on international trade flows, causes and consequences of the proliferation of free trade agreements, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its role in the multilateral trading system, the scale and duration of international agricultural product trade, and U.S.-China international trade.

The economics of food, nutrition, and health choices with implications for policy design and effectiveness. This field focuses on the economics of food, nutrition, and health choices with implications for policy design and effectiveness.  Students who select food and health economics as their research focus will take two field courses - “Food and Health Microeconomics” and “Food and Health Macroeconomics”. These courses cover topics such as basic nutrition, unitary and collective household production models of food choices and health, nutrition and food production from the supply side, principal-agent theory, and cost and benefit measurement in health economics.  Students in the past have done research in a variety of areas such as the academic performance of malnourished or overweight children, estimating the average cost-effectiveness of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education program, designing better incentive-compatible weight loss programs, determining the impact of Food Stamp Participation on child and household food security, estimating the elasticity of substitution between time and goods in food production at home, and maternal choices to provide safe drinking water.

Academic Employment Track with Future Professoriate Graduate Certificate: AAEC partners with the Virginia Tech Graduate School to offer an academic employment track that prepares Ph.D. students for future roles in academia. 

Interdisciplinary Degree in Remote Sensing: AAEC Ph.D. students can combine their program with the Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program in Remote Sensing by taking additional courses related to Remote Sensing and participating in a weekly seminar. Students who complete the requirements receive a certificate in Remote Sensing in addition to their Ph.D.

All Ph.D. students must have an advisory committee. This committee must be formed before the plan of study is filed. The major professor normally serves as chair of the advisory committee. The advisory committee will consist of a minimum of four faculty members (including the advisor). The committee chair, or at least one co-chair, must have a Ph.D. in economics, agricultural economics, or applied economics. Ph.D. students must identify at least two dissertation readers, but readers are not designated on the program of study.

Each student is encouraged to visit with faculty members concerning his/her interests prior to forming an advisory committee. In forming their advisory committee, students are encouraged to have at least one member committed from the faculty in Economics and at least one member from Agricultural and Applied Economics. Students may also include member(s) from other departments.

Once selected, it is the responsibility of the advisory committee to review the student’s proposed coursework and to assess the likelihood of the student successfully completing his/her program. As a student progresses with their program, research plans should be discussed with and approved by their advisory committee. It is the responsibility of the advisory committee chair and the readers to evaluate drafts of the dissertation and provide continuous reviews.

Each Ph.D student’s plan of study must be approved prior to completion of their third semester. The plan of study should include a listing of all courses including course name and credit hours using the appropriate form. The student should submit a copy of the program of study, signed by all advisory committee members, to the Graduate Program Coordinator. Upon approval by the Graduate Director and the Department Head, the Graduate Program Coordinator will electronically submit the program of study to the Graduate School.

The Graduate School requirements for a Ph.D. degree include a minimum of 90 semester hours of graduate credit beyond the baccalaureate, with at least 27 hours of course work and 30 hours of Research and Dissertation (AAEC/ECON 7994).

Doctoral students must satisfactorily complete both Qualifying and Preliminary examinations according to the guidelines in the Student Planning Manual. The Qualifying examination should be taken during January of the second year. The preliminary examination must be taken before entering a seventh semester of full time enrollment in the Ph.D. program.

Each student must pass a preliminary examination consisting of a written and an oral component. The preliminary examination is required by the Graduate School. A student and his/her advisory committee can choose from two approaches to the preliminary examination: either a three-hour written examination followed by an oral examination, or preparation of a dissertation proposal with the oral examination a defense of that proposal. In either case, a student must attempt the preliminary examination before entering a seventh semester of full-time enrollment in the Ph.D. program unless approval for extension is given by the co-chairs of the Graduate Program Committee. The determination of whether a student fails or passes the preliminary examination rests solely with the student’s advisory committee.

Under the written examination approach, students complete an examination covering material relevant to the student’s declared fields of study. The oral part of the exam covers all of the student’s coursework and material that the student’s advisory committee deems relevant for a Ph.D. candidate.

The preliminary examination proceeds as follows:

1. The written preliminary examination is designed by the student’s advisory committee, which may enlist the help of other faculty in preparing and grading individual questions.

2. A successful attempt at passing the written examination is followed within two months by the oral examination. The oral examination must be scheduled with the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to taking the examination and a card must be obtained for recording the grade on the day of the exam. The results of the oral examination (pass or fail) are recorded with the Graduate School by filing the card upon completion of the oral examination.

3. If a student is unsuccessful with the written examination, it is considered a failure of the preliminary examination and is recorded with the Graduate School. A failure on the written examination is recorded by the chair of the student’s advisory committee, who writes a letter to the student, with copies to the Dean of the Graduate School and the Graduate Program Director, indicating that the student has failed the written portion of the examination, which constitutes failure of the preliminary examination.

Under the dissertation proposal approach, the written component consists of a preliminary investigation of a certain field of research. The proposal should contain evidence that the student has a thorough and broad understanding of the field of investigation, evidence of sufficient innovations within this field of investigation to constitute at least one paper, and an outline of a research agenda beyond the proposed innovations leading to the completion of a dissertation. The proposal should be accompanied by a bibliography of the field of investigation.

The preliminary examination proceeds as follows:

1. The student must submit a draft of the written dissertation research proposal to his/her advisor and the designated readers at least six weeks prior to the proposed date of the oral examination. The student is required to have at least one meeting with his/her advisor and the designated readers regarding the dissertation research proposal prior to the submission of the proposal to the advisory committee as a whole. If necessary, the student will have an opportunity to modify his/her proposal to respond to remarks from his/her advisor and designated readers.

2. The student has to submit the final version of the written dissertation research proposal to all members of his/her advisory committee at least two weeks prior to the defense date. The oral examination must be scheduled with the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to taking the examination and a card obtained for recording the grade on the day of the exam. Results of the oral examination (pass or fail) are recorded with the Graduate School by filing the card upon completion of the oral examination.

If a student fails the first attempt of the preliminary examination, the student’s Department Head may grant a second attempt. If a second attempt is granted, the preliminary examination process must be redone between fifteen weeks and six months after the first attempt. A maximum of two attempts to pass the preliminary examination will be allowed. There will be no opportunity to repeat the preliminary examination process after two attempts.

Progress reports are submitted twice annually to the Graduate Director. Reports are reviewed and signed by the chair of the student’s advisory committee or temporary advisor. For students with assistantship financial support, the progress reports may be used to help determine the student’s stipend level for the following year. The progress reports will be filed with the student’s permanent record and may be reviewed or copied by the student upon request.

Students are encouraged to participate actively in the research seminars within the department. All master’s and Ph.D. students writing a thesis or dissertation are expected to present a seminar on their research proposal or results. In order to schedule a final thesis or dissertation defense, the student may need to complete a short form, which is signed by the chair of his/her advisory committee, indicating that the seminar was given. A copy of the form may be obtained from the Graduate Program Coordinator.

In addition to coursework, Ph.D. students are required to pass three examinations: (1) a written qualifying examination, (2) a written and oral preliminary examination, and (3) a final oral dissertation defense.

• Students are required to take the written qualifying examination during the summer after their first year in the program. Exceptions, while unusual, may be obtained on an individual basis. To be considered for an exception, a student must petition the AAEC Graduate Program Director in writing as early as possible, and not later than four weeks prior to the examination date. Students who fail to take the written qualifying examination without the required permission will be considered to fail, unless there are extraordinary extenuating circumstances.
• Each student must pass a preliminary examination consisting of a written and an oral component. The preliminary examination is required by the Graduate School. A student and his/her advisory committee can choose from two approaches to the preliminary examination: either a three-hour written examination followed by an oral examination, or preparation of a dissertation proposal with the oral examination a defense of that proposal. In either case, a student must attempt the preliminary examination before entering a seventh semester of full-time enrollment in the Ph.D. program unless approval for extension is given by the co-chairs of the graduate program committee. The determination of whether a student fails or passes the preliminary examination rests solely with the student’s advisory committee.
• The final oral examination is a defense of the student’s dissertation. The Graduate School requires that the final oral exam be scheduled at least six months after the student has successfully passed the preliminary examination.

At the completion of their degree, students are also expected to provide the Graduate Program Coordinator with their forwarding address, date of degree, title of thesis or dissertation, and position of employment or further educational plans.