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Ph.D. Program

Ph.D. Program

A Graduate Advisory Committee is formed for each student during his or her first semester. This committee is chaired by the student's major professor and has a minimum of five members, with at least one from outside the department.  For each student, the Graduate Advisory Committee determines a plan of study according to the student's background and desired area of specialization. Ph.D. students are expected to demonstrate competency in their area of specialization and are required to take a minimum of 27 hours of courses numbered 5000 or higher as part of a plan of study determined by their committee. Candidates must demonstrate breadth of experience in at least one topic apart from the major area of study. This enrichment experience must be approved by the committee and may take the form of foreign language, business, computer science, or other pre-approved topic.

For more information about our Ph.D. program please read our graduate handbook found to the right. 

Questions?

Please contact our Graduate Program Director, Dr. Scott Salom at salom@vt.edu or 540-231-2794.