Curriculum

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration is awarded for the completion of scholarly research that advances knowledge in the field of research. Evidence of this is demonstrated by a successful dissertation defense. Additional Ph.D. degree requirements include mastery of the body of knowledge within the major field of study and demonstrating potential for success in future teaching and research.

Students who enter the program work with the Program Director to develop a Plan of Study during their first two semesters in the program. This Plan of Study will determine the exact coursework that the student must meet in order to be eligible to take the Qualifying Examination. The Plan of Study must meet all Graduate School and Belk College of Business requirements.

The Graduate School requires that any student earning a Ph.D. must complete at least 72 post-baccalaureate semester-hours, including at least 18 hours of dissertation credit. Some of these graduate credit hours may include courses taken while enrolled in other graduate programs. It is a Belk College of Business requirement that any program of study within the Ph.D. in Business Administration must contain at least 42 semester hours of doctoral coursework, regardless of other graduate hours that the student may have previously earned. These 42 semester hours are in addition to the minimum of 18 hours of dissertation credit that the Graduate School requires. The Plan of Study must contain a minimum of 18 hours in the major field, a minimum of 15 hours in the minor field, and a minimum of 9 hours in research-support courses.

In addition to the general Ph.D. degree requirements above, if a student enters the program without a Master’s degree, the Plan of Study must include an additional 30 hours of coursework. This coursework must be taken at the graduate level and will generally include courses that are part of the Master of Accountancy, Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Economics, or Master of Science in Mathematical Finance programs. These 30 hours of additional coursework are subject to the approval of the Program Director.

Admission, progression requirements and all program requirements can be found in the Graduate Catalog.

Summary of Key Milestones in the Program

• Year 1: Coursework + end-of-year diagnostic exam.
• Year 2: Coursework + end-of-year qualifying exam paper requirement.
• Year 3: Third-year students must present an original research paper in the regular faculty seminar in the fall or spring semester. The paper can be single-authored or joint with faculty and/or other students. This paper could be the dissertation proposal or an expanded version or extension of their second-summer paper requirement.
• Years 4 and 5: Students on the job market must interview at the Financial Management Association Meeting (FMA) in October and/or American Finance Association Meeting (AFA) in January, and they are required to present their job market paper in the regular faculty seminar prior to the FMA meeting (i.e., in August or September of their job market year).
• In the event that a student does not go to the job market in their 4th year, funding for a 5th year is contingent on (1) making significant progress toward completing dissertation research, and (2) faculty assessment of the likelihood the student will be on the market during his/her fifth year. A student not on the job market in their fourth year must present an original research paper in the regular faculty seminar in the fall or spring semester of their fourth year; and every year thereafter while the student is in the program.

Ph.D. Curriculum

Coursework sequencing in the first two years: