Ph.D. Program FAQ

All 1st and 2nd year Ph.D. students are required to take courses and must register through GU Experience. To be registered for full-time study, students must enroll in at least 3 three-credit courses per semester; these can include directed readings, courses in other departments, and courses taken through the Consortium with other DC-area universities. The list of available Georgetown courses can be viewed here.

Typically, you will need to enroll in 4 three-credit courses a semester to complete the departmental course requirements. Students with transfer/advanced standing credit may enroll in fewer courses per semester.

If you are taking fewer than nine credits (three courses) any semester during the first two years in the program, you should register for Govt 9999-03, “Thesis Research.” This will allow you to retain full-time enrollment status, and continue to receive all benefits (including maintaining your student visa status, if applicable).

Students who wish to register for a reading or research tutorial must work with a tutorial instructor (who will typically be a tenure-line faculty member in the Government Department, but may be other faculty at Georgetown) to draw up a syllabus for the course, including a title, schedule of meetings and reading assignments, and identification of what form of written work will be completed. Either the student or instructor must then contact the DGS to approve the tutorial, and complete the registration form. This form must be completed and submitted by the DGS no later than the final day of the Add/Drop period.

If you are interested in taking a class using the Consortium option, please follow the instructions using this link. Be sure to register as soon as possible as the Ph.D. program does not have any jurisdiction on the registration of a peer university. Please also be advised that, while it is advisable to complete the registration process early (given the lag time involved in processing applications), there is no guarantee that you will be registered in the consortium course by the beginning of the semester, since the Consortium Office must coordinate these enrollments with the registrar offices at the partner university. Please send any questions to Consortium@georgetown.edu.

Usually at the start of the 3rd year in the Ph.D. program, the 48 credits requirement should be complete. As a result, you will have to be register in “Thesis Research” to remain enrolled full-time and maintain all benefits. This can be done by registering for GOVT 9999-01 at the beginning of the 3rd year. Starting the semester after, the graduate school will automatically enroll in you “Thesis Research”. However, to avoid any issues be sure to check your registration at the beginning of the semester.

Course requirements vary by field; please see the Ph.D. Program Handbook for full details. All Ph.D. students, however, must complete 48 course credits (typically 16 courses) with a grade of B or better.

Students who have done graduate work (either in an M.A. or Ph.D. program or who have taken Ph.D.-level courses during undergraduate studies) may apply for advanced standing or transfer credit. The process and benefits are mostly identical; but students receive “advanced standing” if they have earned a degree for work done in a prior graduate course (typically an M.A.), and “transfer credit” if they have taken graduate-level courses, but have not completed a graduate degree. In both cases, students will be granted a certain number of course credits that count toward fulfilling the 48-credit course requirement for the Ph.D..

Students are not permitted to receive more than 12 (out of 48) required course credits through advanced standing/transfer credit. Typically, students seeking advanced standing for having completed an M.A. in political science or a closely related field will receive 9 advanced standing credits; while students seeking transfer credits will receive 3 credits for each graduate-level course they have successfully completed (conditional on demonstrating that the course is comparable to the sort of courses they would take in the Ph.D. program and that they have received a satisfactory grade in the course).

Advanced standing/transfer credits may be used to fulfill course requirements except for the field seminars in your major (and optional minor) field(s)

Students must wait until they have completed four courses before requesting advanced standing/transfer credit; typically, they apply for advanced standing/transfer credit during their second semester in the program. If you wish to know earlier than this how many credits you may be eligible for, and which Ph.D. program requirements may be satisfied through advanced standing/transfer credits, you should meet with the DGS early in your first term.

In order to initiate the request for advanced standing/transfer credits, you should submit 1) a memo, listing the courses you wish to have considered for transfer credit, or listing the courses taken in the program for which you have received a degree, 2) syllabi for these courses, and 3) a transcript (which may be unofficial) showing that you successfully completed the courses, to the faculty member who is Field Chair for the field in which the courses for which you are requesting transfer credit/advanced standing fall. In the case of methods courses, you should contact the Methods Coordinator. Once you have received approval from the faculty member, you should complete the “Student Petition to Change Program” form, available here, and submit this, along with all materials submitted to the Field Chair/Methods Coordinator and the Field Chair/Methods Coordinator’s approval, to the DGS, who will review and, if approved, submit the application to the Graduate School.

Requirements vary by field; please consult the Ph.D. Program Handbook for full details.

Students majoring in American Government, Comparative Government, or International Relations must take Govt 8001, or an equivalent course in quantitative methods, as well as at least one other methods course. Students in Political Theory must take Govt 8801, “Methods of Political Theory.”

Students majoring in Comparative Government, International Relations, and Political Theory will typically need to demonstrate reading fluency in at least one language other than English. This may be done through providing evidence of having taken two semesters of advanced-level study of a foreign language, for which you have received a grade of “B” or better, as an undergraduate; enrolling in a recognized language-training program or taking advanced-level language courses at Georgetown; or completing a foreign language reading exam administered by the department. Native speakers of a language other than English may have the requirement waived by demonstrating citizenship in a country where that foreign language is an official language, and providing evidence of having completed high school or college at an institution where the language of instruction is not English.

Comprehensive (comp) exams are taken by each Ph.D. student in their major field, to demonstrate that they have attained sufficient mastery of the basics of that field to both teach courses, and undertake advanced research, in that field. You may also take comprehensive exams in a second field of political science to satisfy the requirements for an optional minor field.

Comp exams are typically taken after the completion of coursework, immediately before either Fall or Spring semester of the third year; in exceptional circumstances, students may take comp exams early (before the Spring of the second year) or later. You should notify the DGS of your intention to take the comp exam the semester before you intend to do so.

The format, material covered, and process for completing the comp exams vary significantly from field to field; please consult the Ph.D. Program Handbook for full details. You will be provided with access to comp exam questions from previous years to assist with preparing to take the exams, and may also seek guidance on how to prepare from the Field Chair in your major (or, where relevant, minor) field. Students in Political Theory should confer with two faculty members about drafting questions for Part II of the Political Theory comp exam in the semester before they take the exam (if not earlier).

Completed comp exams are anonymized and read by a review committee of three faculty members, who confer to determine a grade for the exam (“Distinction” “High Pass” “Pass” or “Fail”). This grade is then communicated to the DGS, who conveys the result to the candidate, and files a report with the Graduate School. You may contact the Field Chair in the field in which you have been examined to request written or oral feedback from the faculty who have reviewed the exam; but there is no requirement or expectation that this will be provided.

Candidates who receive a failing grade on the comp exam are always allowed to re-take the exam once, typically the next time that it is offered. Students who fail the exam a second time are typically terminated from the program; in special circumstances (such as situations involving mental and/or physical health problems, or if the department has not properly administered and reviewed the exam) students may appeal to the Graduate School to take the exam a third and final time.

The Graduate School allows students to take the following sorts of leave, under the following conditions:

A. Personal Leave of Absence (PLOA): Students who find it necessary to interrupt their studies may apply in writing to the Graduate School for a personal leave of absence, preferably at least one week prior to the first day of the semester in which the leave is to be taken, and no later than the last day of the Add/Drop period. Such requests must be approved by the Department, by completing a Student Petition for Leave of Absence form and submitting it to the DGS.

During the PLOA students remain registered in the eyes of the Graduate School, and are thus liable for registration fees. Students on PLOAs may not, however, meet the residency status necessary to qualify for financial aid or to meet visa requirements. International students should consult with their International Student Advisor in the Office of Global Services before requesting a PLOA in order to ensure that their visa requirements will be satisfied. Students are not allowed more than four semesters total, of PLOA; and may only request two semesters of leave at any one time.

The length of time that would otherwise be permitted to complete all requirements for a degree and to graduate generally will be extended by one semester for each semester of approved leave of absence, but approved PLOAs will not extend the period during which a student will receive promised funding. No degree requirements can be completed during the PLOA, nor can a student graduate during a PLOA. However, PLOAs will not alter deadlines relating to the completion of specific course requirements, such as deadlines for completing work in a course for which an “Incomplete” grade was received.

B. Medical Leave of Absence (MLAO): Students whose ability to function successfully or safely in their role as students due to situations involving physical and mental health (including pregnancy, injury, chronic illness) should consider requesting the MLOA. In order to determine whether the MLOA is appropriate, and to initiate the process of taking it, students should contact both the Graduate School Dean’s Office and the Student Health Center or Counseling and Psychiatric Service (CAPS). Students who decide to take an MLOA should submit a Student Petition for Leave of Absence form to the Department and the Graduate School. As in the case of the PLOA, students may request up to two semesters of MLOA at any given time. Students need not disclose any personal information on the form or to their program. The petition must be signed by the DGS and approved by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the Graduate School. If the leave is for psychiatric reasons, the student must first schedule a consultation with a CAPS clinician who will make an assessment of the student’s mental health status and, if warranted, recommend a treatment plan; if the reason for leave is due to a physical ailment or condition (e.g., pregnancy, surgery), the student or the student’s physician or health provider must submit an official letter to SHC, attesting to the student’s health status and supporting the period of leave. The appropriate clinician in CAPS or SHC will prepare a letter and submit it to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the Graduate School. Requests for MLOA will not be approved without a letter from CAPS or SHC. Any personal medical information or health records should be shared directly with CAPS or SHC, not with the Department.

An approved MLOA will pause the student’s time to complete degree requirements and to graduate; however, a student may not graduate while on an MLOA. After two semesters of medical leave, the leave must be renewed annually. To extend the leave, the student must complete a new Student Petition for Leave of Absence form and request an updated letter from either CAPS or SHC.

C. U.S. Military Service Leave and Re-Enrollment Policy: For purposes of this policy, a “military service leave” is a University-approved withdrawal from all in-progress University classes that is necessitated by service, whether voluntary or involuntary, in the United States Armed Forces, including service by a member of the National Guard or Reserve, active duty, active duty for training, or full-time National Guard duty under Federal authority, for a period of more than thirty consecutive days under a call or order to active duty of more than thirty consecutive days.

A student who is called to active duty or active service in a branch of the United States Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard or Reserve) and wishes to take a military service leave must provide the University with advanced notice of such service and the intention to take a leave of absence. As soon as possible, after receiving military orders that require withdrawal from a program or course of study, a student must contact their academic dean to request a formal leave of absence and attach a copy of the military orders or other appropriate documentation to the request. This advanced notice can be made by the student or may be made by an appropriate officer of the U.S. Armed Forces or official of the U.S. Department of Defense to the University Registrar, but the student is responsible for making sure the dean receives notice. The notice need not include a statement of an intention to return to the University. If military necessity renders it impossible to provide advance notice to their academic dean, the student may initiate a military service leave by providing notice at the first reasonable opportunity, in writing, personally signed, and with a copy of the military orders attached.

Upon receiving notice of a student’s request to withdraw from the University or a program or drop all enrolled courses because of military obligations, the dean shall promptly contact the campus registrar. The campus registrar will review the request and initiate the military service leave of absence by notifying the Office of Student Financial Services and the Office of Student Accounts or equivalent offices at the Law School and Medical Center. The Office of Student Financial Services (or equivalent) will review the student’s eligibility for financial aid funds received before the time of withdrawal and inform the student about the status of their financial aid and actions required to defer loan repayments based on military obligations. Students who are granted a military service leave will receive a 100% refund of tuition and fees charged for the semester or academic term in which they withdraw, but will be charged for housing and meal plan expenses already incurred. If the University determines that it is appropriate to award academic credit for work completed in the semester or academic term in which a student takes military service leave, the student shall not receive a refund for the portion of the course of study for which academic credit is awarded. No refund will be provided until the University receives a copy of the military orders necessitating the withdrawal. Students who are granted a military service leave may be on leave for up to five academic years, after which an extension may be granted with their dean’s approval. To apply for an extension, students must contact their dean. Students who do not request an extension will be withdrawn from the University and at a later date may choose to seek readmission. To seek readmission at a later date, students must contact their dean.

If you do not expect to be able to make progress in academic work, and/or fulfill the conditions for receiving a stipend as set by your fellowship contract, you may voluntarily withdraw from the program; you should confer with the DGS and Graduate School about taking this step. Once you withdraw, you may apply for reinstatement within three years of the withdrawal. If you wish to return to the program after more than three years have elapsed, you will need to apply for readmission (through the same process through which you applied for admission to the program in the first place).

Students may be terminated from the program by the Graduate School if they fail to register and/or pay outstanding charges tuition, or for failure to make academic progress (which includes, but is not limited to, failing comp exams, failing to submit and defend the dissertation by the end of the seventh year of full-time enrollment in the Ph.D.Program). Students notified that they are facing termination may avert termination by appealing for, and being granted, further time, or completing the requirements/registration/payment on which they are behind.

Students who have completed all course requirements are entitled to receive an M.A. in Government. In applying for the M.A., you should indicate whether you wish to receive the MA-in-Passing (if you plan to proceed to fulfilling remaining requirements to receive the Ph.D.), or the Terminal M.A. (if you are planning to leave the program without completing the requirements for, and receiving, the Ph.D.). The same form is used in each case, and is available on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences web site here; the form should be filled out and submitted, along with a copy of your transcript, to the DGS, who will approve and forward it to the Graduate School.

Once you have completed coursework, you will begin working on a dissertation prospectus – a document outlining the topic of/questions driving the dissertation, and the research design for answering these questions. These documents vary in length, form, and scope/detail/; but typically they will identify a topic or question that the dissertation will aim to elucidate, an explanation of why the topic/question represents a significant subject of inquiry, and why further work on it is justified or needed, an outline of how you propose to go about investigating this question, why you have adopted the approach and research plan that you have, and a preliminary outline of the structure of the dissertation.

You should work with a committee of faculty members (typically three) to develop ideas for the dissertation, and draft the prospectus. Once you receive approval to do so from all committee members, you should contact the Ph.D. Program Officer to arrange a prospectus defense, which may be held in person or virtually, and lasts for 90 minutes; you must notify the Ph.D. Program Officer of the date of the prospectus defense at least 10 days in advance. Each member of the committee must be present for the defense, Prospectus defenses are typically open to all department faculty and graduate students, and invited guests; but you may request that only department faculty be permitted to attend.

Once the prospectus defense is completed, and after making any revisions required by your committee, you should obtain and complete the Graduate School’s official dissertation proposal form. This form should include a clear, succinct statement of the problem, related literature, procedure, method of research, primary and secondary sources, as well as an indication of the theoretical contribution the dissertation will make to political science. You should share the form with both your committee chair and the DGS for approval, before it is submitted to the Graduate School.

Before scheduling a dissertation defense, your committee must certify by majority vote that the dissertation is “ready for defense,” by completing and signing “Doctoral Project or Dissertation Reviewers Report.” You and your committee must ensure that this report is signed and submitted to the Graduate School at least one week before the date of the defense.

Once the committee has provided its consent, you should work with the Ph.D. Program Officer to arrange a date, time, and place for the dissertation defense; you must advise the Ph.D. Program Officer of the date of the defense at least two weeks in advance, so that the defense may be announced, and a room can be reserved (if necessary). No form is required for this, but candidates should include the title of their dissertation and the names of their committee members in the email to the Ph.D. Program Officer.

The dissertation defense involves a public presentation, which any member of the academic community may attend and ask questions. It typically begins with a 10-15 minute presentation of your project, followed by a period during which your committee alone may ask you questions. After this, the dissertation chair asks if there are any questions from others in attendance. This public session is followed by a closed meeting of the committee during which it deliberates. The candidate will be considered to have passed the dissertation defense when the committee certifies by majority vote that the defense was successful.

Once the candidate has passed the defense, the dissertation committee completes and signs two forms reporting the results of the defense. These forms are coordinated and signed by different combinations of people, and submitted to different offices. You will be responsible for ensuring the completion of the “Dissertation Cover Sheet,” which is sent to the DGS for signature and submission to the Graduate School. The DGS or Ph.D. Program Officer is responsible for ensuring that a separate form, the “Thesis/Dissertation Defense Report Form” is completed by the Committee members, and submitted to the University Registrar’s Office – you need not (and are in fact not allowed) to see or submit this form. You are then solely responsible for submitting forms related to the electronic filing of your dissertations.  which can be found here: https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/9e40v4pm9pwjvjarip4355ock2qrak2v

Health insurance is required by all students enrolled full time at the university. You are able to register in the university’s health insurance plan or your own. It is important to be aware that if you do not have your own health insurance plan you will required to enroll in the university’s plan. If you have your own outside plan then you can waive the GU plan. Please be sure to inform your Program Officer if you choose to do so.

Along with the standard health insurance plan, dental insurance is available as well. It is not automatically applied to your account so if you would like to enroll, please inform your Program Officer.

There are two types of stipend that Ph.D. students may receive: service-free, and service stipends. The latter are linked to service as a teaching assistant (TA) or Research Assistant (RA) within the Department of Government. All Ph.D. students are guaranteed two years (four semesters) worth of service-free stipends (typically taken during the first and fifth years in the program), and three years (six semesters) of service stipends.

The method of fund disbursement is contingent upon the specific type of stipend(service or non-service) you are currently receiving in a semester. Please be sure that your stipend payment method matches to the stipend type. If you are on a non-service stipend for the semester, please request a refund from your GU Experience account. If you are on service stipend, you will receive a bi-weekly paycheck processed through payroll services. Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and Teaching Associate are all under the service category. After determining your payment method and it does not align, please reach out to your Program Officer.

Students may work an additional 5 hours a week at GU (whether in the Government Department or another unit of GU) while on their service stipend. Only students on a service stipend can have an additional position.  If you are on non-service stipend, based upon the university’s policy then you are not allowed to work an additional GU position.

**Please ensure the program is aware of any additional GU positions before you begin to work.**

For reporting these hours, whether within the Department of Government or any department/office affiliated with Georgetown University, please use the GMS Workday platform and follow up with the corresponding Timekeeper to ensure you receive your payments.

The department presents an opportunity once a year to receive an award with the purpose of being used in the summer to further individual research or enhance a skill (language or quantitative methods). A call for applications will be sent out by the Admissions and Fellowship Chair to inform all Ph.D. students the application cycle is open and how to submit a completed application. The call will usually go out near the middle of the Fall semester, with the award committee concluding and informing the award recipients near the end of the semester. For the recipients to receive the funding from a departmental award an active GMS supplier account is required. Details on how to create a supplier account or make changes to an active account can be found here. If there are any issues during please contact your Program Officer.

To assist with conference expenses where a student is presenting in some format, whether it is in person or online, the department has allotted each student $1000 each financial year (which runs from July 1st to June 30th). Please a submit a conference travel request form beforehand to the Graduate Program Officer. After the conference has concluded, submit all related receipts so your final conference travel grant amount can be established. subsequently the reimbursement can be processed. The funds will be sent via the method established during the creation of your supplier invoice.

The United States has income tax treaties with a number of foreign countries where residents or citizens of foreign countries may be eligible to be taxed at a reduced rate or exempt from U.S. income taxes on certain items of income. First, you have to check on your eligibility within the United States for possible tax treaty benefits. For information on the process to apply for these benefits please use this link.

If a student does not have a social security number, then the “F-1 Social Security On Campus Employment” form must be completed and submitted to the Office of Global Studies. After the student has completed the student portion of the form, then the department portion can be signed by your Program Officer. You can find the link to the form here along with additional employment information from OGS.