• Overview
  • Degree Requirements
  • Admissions and Financial Aid
• Applying for Graduate Studies in Political Science
  • Admission Requirements
  • Graduate Application Checklist
  • Frequently Asked Questions
• Information for Currently Enrolled Graduate Students
• Graduate Student Placements (2001-present)
• Ph.D. Alumni

The graduate program in Political Science at Rice is of the highest quality. Oriented toward the Ph.D., the program offers concentrations in a variety of areas, with specialties matching the expertise of our faculty. Class sizes are small, allowing faculty to give students individualized attention. Graduate students may participate in research beginning in their first year of study, allowing them to make presentations at academic conferences during their second year. The program is designed primarily to prepare students for academic careers, although some graduates pursue careers outside academia.

The department offers Ph.D. degrees in American Politics, with concentrations in political institutions (including the U.S. Congress, the presidency, state legislatures, and state courts), voting and electoral behavior, public policy, political parties and interest groups, or state and urban politics; Comparative Politics, with emphasis on the cross-national, quantitative study of political institutions and electoral behavior; and International Relations, with emphasis on the quantitative study of international conflict and cooperation. Graduate students will be exposed to a number of approaches to the study of political science. In addition, the department offers a variety of methodology courses, including advanced statistical techniques, formal and mathematical modeling, and computer simulation.

The department's size allows only for the admission of students whose interests match the expertise of the faculty. Please review the faculty's research interests and determine whether the program meets your needs. Students are required to begin in the fall semester for proper course sequencing.

Students in the Ph.D. program must complete 48 semester hours in advanced courses or seminars, meet certain additional requirements, successfully complete general examinations in both their major and minor areas, and write and defend a dissertation. There are no fixed milestones, but most students will complete course work in five or six semesters, take exams, and spend one to two years on the dissertation.

Students must take core courses in each of the three Ph.D. fields, four or more additional courses in the student's major field, and three courses beyond the core course in the student's minor field. Students are also required to take a comprehensive sequence of courses in quantitative political methodologies and research design.

In addition to course work, graduate students are required to serve as teaching assistants for at least two semesters. The department has regular teaching colloquia designed to help students learn to teach. Some of the advanced graduate students are given the opportunity to teach their own courses.

The Political Science department has no M.A. program as such, and students seeking only a master's degree will typically not be admitted. However, the Master of Arts degree is earned as a student progresses toward the Ph.D. The M.A. requires 36 semester hours of course work, all of which must be taken at the graduate level, and the completion of two research papers in seminars taken over the course of study.

Students applying for admission to the graduate program are asked to submit the following directly to the Department of Political Science:

• A completed application for admission
• Transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
• The OFFICIAL results of the GRE, taken within the last three years
• If English is the second language, OFFICIAL test scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are required.
• Three letters of recommendation from faculty who are familiar with the applicant's work
• An application fee of $40

The deadline for receipt of completed applications by the department is February 1. Rice will send a notification of acceptance no later than April 1.

Rice provides financial aid in four ways--tuition waivers, graduate fellowships, research assistantships based on merit, and need-based aid such as federally insured loans. Tuition waivers are granted in an amount equal to Rice's tuition, which is $26,100 for 2006-2007. Graduate fellowships, unlike teaching fellowships awarded by many universities, entail only a modest teaching or research assignment (a maximum of ten hours per week during the semester); consequently, graduate fellows can engage in full time study. At present these fellowships provide incoming students at least $16,000 per nine month academic year. Numerous opportunities for summer funding (often supported by faculty grants) are also available. In addition, a number of graduate students have been recipients of external fellowships. All financial aid decisions are made shortly after the February 1 application deadline.

To begin the application process, click Continue.