Ph.D. Program Admission
Applicants will be admitted to the PhD program based upon enrollment availability and their abilities relative to other candidates. Those who meet the minimum requirements are not guaranteed admission. Admission decisions are made by the Department of Economics Graduate Committee and are based upon a number of factors including the applicant's GRE scores, college transcripts, application essays and letters of recommendation. The following are the minimum requirements.
- Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university
- Applicants must have a minimum GRE Quantitative score of 156 (Revised scale as of August 2011) or 720 (previous scale) (that is, 74 percent rank).
- An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher.
- For non-native English speakers an officially reported minimum TOEFL score of 600 (paper-based test) or 250 (computer-based test) or 100 (IBT).
- A written statement of goals and objectives including a statement that clearly identifies the applicant's interest in the program.
- Coursework in microeconomics and macroeconomics at the intermediate level or above and in statistics and mathematics (multivariate calculus) is expected. Additional coursework in finite math would be helpful. Otherwise qualified students who lack this background may be directed to appropriate coursework to remedy this deficiency.
Applicants must submit at least three letters of recommendation (preferably from faculty members), which comment explicitly on the applicant's ability to do doctoral level work, including doctoral level research and writing.
Students with no prior graduate work in Economics will also earn a M.S. degree in Economics and Applied Econometrics once they meet the requirements for that degree. Students with prior graduate work in Economics might be able to transfer some of their credits toward both the MS and PhD degrees. Students with a Master’s degree in Economics or related discipline might be able reduce the total number of credits for the PhD degree by receiving equivalency credit for some of these courses as determined by the Department's Graduate Committee. While an MBA degree is not considered to be equivalent to a Master's degree in Economics, some coursework taken as a part of the degree might qualify for equivalency credit.. Each student’s requirements for satisfying the Master's equivalency will be established by the Graduate Committee. Click here for details concerning equivalency.
Application Dates and Procedures
The dates for application submission are July 1 for Fall admissions. Students seeking financial aid should complete their applications by February 15, but late applications are considered if funds are available.
For on-line application or to print application materials to the University of Delaware, click here.
