This program requires 30 credit hours of coursework.  The following core courses (15 credits) are required of all students and should be taken early in the program:

Required Courses:Hours
 SOCIOL 5501   Social Theory I                    3
 SOCIOL 5502   Social Theory II                   3
 SOCIOL 5510   Sociological Research Methods I    3 
 SOCIOL 5511   Sociological Research Methods II   3
 SOCIOL 5516   Intermediate Statistics            3

In addition to these required courses, students must complete an additional 15 credit hours, generally fulfilled by taking graduate-level courses from the Sociology curriculum.  Specifically, these 15 hours beyond the core courses may include up to 6 credit hours of thesis research, up to 3 credit hours of independent/directed studies, up to 6 credit hours of 400-level coursework in the department, and/or up to 6 credit hours of graduate coursework from other disciplines with the approval of the Sociology principal graduate advisor.  In no case can more than 3 one-credit courses be part of the program of study.

Students are expected to earn a GPA of 3.0 or above in the core courses and an overall GPA of 3.0. Those who do not meet this requirement will be subject to review by the departmental graduate standards committee. Students who do not perform at a satisfactory level during their time in the program may be reviewed by the Graduate Standards Committee and subsequently can be placed on probation and/or terminated from the program.

Students must complete at least 3 credit hours of graduate work each semester (fall and spring) for the first 2 years of the program and at least 1 credit hour each subsequent semester (fall and spring) to maintain their standing in the program.

By the midpoint of the program, a student should have selected at least 3 faculty members to serve on the master's committee and filed a program of study.