GORDON F. De JONG, In Charge
601 Oswald Tower
814-865-0486
demography@pop.psu.edu

Degrees Conferred: Students electing this option through participating programs will earn a degree with a dual title at both the Ph.D. and M.A. levels, i.e., Ph.D. in (graduate program name) and Demography, or M.A. or M.S. in (graduate program name) and Demography.

The following graduate programs offer dual degrees in Demography: M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography; M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics and Demograpy; M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology and Demography; M.S. and Ph.D. in Rural Sociology and Demography; M.S. and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies, and Demography; M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics, and Demography.

The Graduate Faculty

David G. Abler, Ph.D. (Chicago) Associate Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics and Demography
Duane F. Alwin, Ph.D. (Wisconsin) McCourtney Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Human Development and Family Studies
Paul R. Amato, Ph.D. (James Cook University) Professor of Sociology and Demography
Alan Booth, Ph.D. (Nebraska) Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Human Development, and Demography
Linda M. Burton, Ph.D. (USC) Professor of Human Development and Sociology
Jeffrey H. Cohen, Ph.D. (Indiana) Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Demography
Gretchen T. Cornwell, Ph.D. (Penn State) Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography
Gordon F. De Jong, Ph.D. (Kentucky) Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography
David J. Eggebeen, Ph.D. (North Carolina) Associate Professor of Human Development
George Farkas, Ph.D. (Cornell) Professor of Sociology and Demography
Jill L. Findeis, Ph.D. (Washington State) Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics, and Demography
Glenn Firebaugh Ph.D. (Indiana) Professor of Sociology and Demography
E. Michael Foster, Ph.D. (North Carolina) Professor of Health Policy and Administration, and Demography
Mark D. Hayward, Ph.D. (Indiana) Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography
Mark Hill, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania) Assistant Professor of Sociology and Demography
Marianne Hillemeier, Ph.D. (Michigan) Assistant Professor of Health Policy Administration and Demography
Craig R. Humphrey, Ph.D. (Brown) Associate Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Demography
Rukmalie Jayakody, Ph.D. (Michigan) Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, and Demography
Leif I. Jensen, Ph.D. (Wisconsin) Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography
David R. Johnson, Ph.D. (Vanderbilt) Professor of Sociology, Human Development and Family Studies, and Demography
Patricia L. Johnson, Ph.D. (Michigan) Associate Professor of Anthropology, Demography, and Women’s Studies
Valarie King, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania) Associate Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Human Development and Family Studies
Nancy S. Landale, Ph.D. (Washington) Professor of Sociology and Demography
Barrett A. Lee, Ph.D. (Washington) Professor of Sociology and Demography
Bruce G. Lindsay, Ph.D. (Washington) Distinguished Professor of Statistics
Stephen A. Matthews, Ph.D. (Wales College of Cardiff) Associate Professor of Sociology, Geography, and Demography
Diane K. McLaughlin, Ph.D. (Penn State) Associate Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography
Salvador R. Oropesa, Ph.D. (Washington) Professor of Sociology and Demography
Suet-ling Pong, Ph.D. (Chicago) Associate Professor of Foundations and Comparative/International Education
Warren C. Robinson, Ph.D. (Princeton) Professor Emeritus of Economics
Robert Schoen, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Hoffman Professor of Sociology and Demography
David Shapiro, Ph.D. (Princeton) Professor of Economics, Demography, and Women’s Studies
Pamela Farley Short, Ph.D. (Yale) Professor of Health Policy Administration
Anastasia R. Snyder, Ph.D. (Penn State) Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography
Graham B. Spanier, Ph.D. (Northwestern) Professor of Human Development, Sociology, and Demography
C. Shannon Stokes, Ph.D. (Kentucky) Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography
Kenneth Weiss, Ph.D. (Michigan) Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology and Genetics
James W. Wood, Ph.D. (Michigan) Professor of Anthropology and Demography
Wilbur Zelinsky, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Professor Emeritus of Geography

The Demography dual-title degree program option is administered by the Demography Program Committee, which is responsible for management of the program. The committee maintains program definition, identifies faculty and courses appropriate to the option, and recommends policies and procedures for its operation to the dean of the Graduate School. This dual-title degree program is offered as an option to graduate major programs in three colleges: Agricultural Sciences, Health and Human Development, and the Liberal Arts. The option enables students from diverse graduate programs to attain and be identified with the content, techniques, methodology, and policy implications of demography, while maintaining a close association with areas of application. Through demography, students study (1) the size, composition, and distribution of the population; (2) changes in these characteristics; (3) the processes that determine these changes--fertility, migration, and mortality; and (4) their social, economic, and cultural causes and consequences. To pursue a dual-title degree under this program option, the student must apply to the Graduate School and register through one of the following graduate programs: Agricultural Economics, Anthropology, Economics, Human Development and Family Studies, Rural Sociology, or Sociology.

Admission Requirements

Scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) are required for admission. At the discretion of a graduate program, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in a program without these scores. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.

There are no prerequisites for admission to the M.A., M.S., or Ph.D. program options other than those imposed by the participating graduate program.

All application materials should be submitted by January 1. Applicants should have a junior/senior cumulative average of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) and appropriate courses in statistics and in the social science department to which they are applying. The application should include three letters of reference and a statement describing and explaining the applicant's interest in demography and goals during and after graduate study. TOEFL scores are required of all students for whom English is a second language.

Degree Requirements

To qualify for a dual-title degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the graduate program in which they are enrolled, including the communication/foreign language requirements, if any. In addition, they must satisfy the minimum requirements in the Demography option described here, as established by the Demography Program Committee. Within this framework, final course selection is determined by students and their degree committees. All dual-title degree candidates who are in residence must enroll in DEMOG 590 for 1 credit each year in residence.

Master’s Degree: For the M.A. and M.S. degree with the Demography option, 12 course credits are required in addition to the colloquium credit or credits. A minimum of 3 credits is required in each of the following areas: (1) disciplinary perspective courses—ANTH 408 and 462, ECON 463, SOC 423; (2) demographic methods courses—SOC 573 (required of all candidates), 576, 577, DEMOG 597, SOC/EDTHP 597; (3) seminars in demographic processes—SOC 521, 523, 524, 535, R SOC 525, ANTH 566, DEMOG 597, SOC 597; (4) seminars in population studies—ECON 516, SOC 522, 530, 531, 537, 560, 597, R SOC 530, 597, HD FS 531, 537, 577, AG EC 550, 597, EDTHP 516, ANTH 597, H P A 525.

Particular courses may satisfy both the graduate major program requirements and those of the Demography option. The thesis supervisor must be a member of the graduate faculty recommended by the chair or the graduate officer of the program granting the degree and approved by the Demography Program Committee as qualified to supervise thesis work in demography. If a nonthesis option is available in the student’s graduate program, a paper or report may be written in lieu of the M.A. or M.S. thesis. A student selecting the paper instead of a thesis must take an additional 3 credits in the Demography option.

Ph.D. Degree: For the Ph.D. degree with the Demography option, a minimum of 24 credits (a minimum of 27 credits for students who completed a non-thesis M.A. or M.S. program) is required in addition to the colloquium credits. For students entering with a master’s degree from another institution, equivalent course credits may be accepted. The following minimum number of credits is required in each curriculum category: 3 credits of disciplinary perspective courses; 6 credits of demographic methods courses; 6 credits of seminars in demographic processes; 3 credits of seminars in population studies; and 6 credits of electives. Final course selection is determined in consultation with the doctoral committee.

The doctoral committee is recommended by the graduate major program granting the degree. A four-member committee is required for a dual-title degree program. The chair and at least one additional member of the doctoral committee must be members of the graduate faculty approved by the Demography Program Committee as qualified to supervise doctoral theses in demography. The Demography faculty members on the student’s committee are responsible for administering an examination in demography that constitutes a portion of the comprehensive examination of the doctoral student in the program option. A dissertation on a demographic topic is required of students in the dual-title degree program.

Other Relevant Information

A Ph.D. minor in Demography is available for doctoral students in graduate programs other than the dual-title participating programs who find it advantageous to include demographic content, methods, and policy analysis in their program of study. The student's doctoral committee must approve the choice of this minor, and one member of the doctoral committee must be from the Demography faculty.

To qualify for a minor in Demography, students must satisfy the requirements of their graduate major program and take at least 15 credits in demography in addition to colloquium credits. A minimum of at least 3 credits each in (1) disciplinary perspective, (2) demographic methods courses, (3) seminars in demographic processes, and (4) seminars in population studies is required. Students must enroll in DEMOG 590 for 1 credit during each year enrolled in the program and in residence.

Student Aid

In addition to the fellowships, traineeships, graduate assistantships, and other forms of financial aid described in the STUDENT AID section of the Graduate Bulletin, the following award typically has been available to graduate students in this program:

HEWLETT FOUNDATION AND NICHO TRAINEESHIP AWARDS
Available to demography students from developing countries. NICHD traineeships available to Demography students from the United States.

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 599 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

DEMOGRAPHY (DEMOG) course list

The Pennsylvania State University © 2004

The University reserves the right to change the requirements and regulations listed here and to determine whether a student has satisfactorily met its requirements for admission or graduation, and to reject any applicant for any reason the University determines to be material to the applicant's qualifications to pursue higher education. Nothing in this material should be considered a guarantee that completion of a program and graduation from the University will result in employment.

This electronic Graduate Bulletin is a version of the official bulletin of The Pennsylvania State University. It is suggested that users refer to this electronic bulletin when seeking the latest information about the University's academic programs and courses. Printed versions of the Bulletin are also official copies of the programs, courses, and policies in effect at the time of printing.

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL: 5/24/04

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY PUBLICATIONS: 7/1/05