All courses are offered in-person on campus in Seattle at the University of Washington. Ph.D. students are expected to be in residence in Seattle while taking or teaching classes. Students with financial support from the university must take a full credit load.

Ph.D. students have the choice to get a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management degree upon successful completion of the first two years of coursework, qualifying exam, and major area paper.

Before starting at the Evans School, incoming students must have prior graduate coursework in calculus and participate in our week-long math camp.

The Ph.D. degree requirements include: 

Core Courses

  • Advanced microeconomics for policy analysis
  • Organizations, management, and theory
  • Perspectives on institutions
  • Public policy processes
  • Public policy analysis
  • Professional development seminar
  • Research design
  • Statistics (2)

Required Electives

  • Qualitative and quantitative methods (2) 
  • Structural inequality (1) 
  • Area of specialization (3) 

Other Requirements

  • Qualifying exams taken in the summer after first year of the program.
  • Major area paper
  • Teaching assistantship

Dissertation

  • General exam to propose dissertation
  • Dissertation work
  • Final exam to defend dissertation 
View Ph.D. program admissions details

If you have any questions, please contact evansphd@uw.edu.