About Our Program
All applications must be received by March 1 for admission the following Fall. To be considered for fellowships or graduate assistantships, please see earlier deadlines here.
We offer graduate degree programs for both M.A. and Ph.D. candidates. Master's students experience sociology through seminars, guided coursework with accomplished scholars, and exposure to a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. Doctoral students have access to advanced offerings in the areas of theory, methods, social movements, gender, religion, culture, power, environmental sociology, race and ethnicity, community, and inequality. A special concentration in criminology, deviance, and criminal justice allows interested students to pursue a substantial part of their doctoral studies in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Read our handbook (PDF) for a wealth of information on our program, degree requirements, course offerings, and much more.
Funding
Most students receive funding through Sociology and university teaching and research assistantships, or through external research funding. Students may opt for the emphasis in Criminology and Criminal Justice by taking classes in that department.
Opportunities
Our graduate students enjoy the benefits of an exclusive in-house library, a graduate lounge, and a fully-equipped internet computer facility with high speed printing, Nvivo, SAS, SPSS, and other software. Our recent doctoral alumni now hold tenure-tracked positions at Augusta State, Minnesota State Morehead, SUNY College at Brockport, University of Northern Iowa, Eastern Illinois University, Yeungnam University, Mississippi State University, and elsewhere.
Equality
Our sociology graduate program received the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) Seal of Approval for Faculty Gender Equity (over 40% of our faculty are women -- actually, we are 50/50); and Gender Scholarship (at least 25% of our faculty name gender or gender inequality among our specialties). We are among 22 other doctoral programs to receive both of these distinctions.