boston college statistics phd

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• CHESTNUT HILL, MA
• Boston College
• Rating 4.38 out of 5   32 reviews
• Education Administration
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• Social Work
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Graduate schools within boston college.

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Boston College Law School

Boston college school of social work, boston college school of theology and ministry.

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Carroll School of Management

Connel school of nursing, lynch school of education, morrissey college of arts and sciences, woods college of advancing studies, masters programs, most popular masters programs.

• Social Work 217 Students
• Business 213 Students
• Teaching 155 Students
• Nursing 113 Students
• Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences 105 Students
• Counseling Psychology 78 Students
• Theological and Ministerial Studies 77 Students
• Accounting 71 Students
• Financial Mathematics 70 Students
• Organizational Leadership 58 Students

Doctoral Programs

Most popular doctoral programs.

• Law 247 Students
• Financial Mathematics 31 Students
• Educational Administration 23 Students
• Theological and Ministerial Studies 15 Students
• Chemistry 14 Students
• Teaching 13 Students
• Nursing Science, Education, and Practice 12 Students
• Economics 11 Students
• Physics 10 Students
• Philosophy 7 Students

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Graduate students.

• White 53.8%
• International (Non-Citizen) 17.3%
• Unknown 11.2%
• Hispanic 6.6%
• African American 3.7%
• Multiracial 2%
• Native American 0.1%
• Pacific Islander 0%

Student Life

• Down-to-earth 7%
• Friendly 13%
• Intellectual 13%
• Just trying to get through 7%
• Ethically Engaged 7%
• Hard working 33%
• Competitive and intense 29%
• Prepared me for the real world 7%
• Supportive/helped me grow 57%
• Purpose prompting 7%

Scholarship

Return on investment.

• Less than $25,000 13%
• $25,000 - $50,000 33%
• $50,000 - $75,000 13%
• $75,000 - $100,000 7%
• More than $100,000 33%
• More than $150,000 7%
• Did not graduate yet 87%

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Social Work: Doctoral Student Resources

Data/statistics, sources of datasets.

• ProQuest Statistical Insight Complete Collection This link opens in a new window Index to local, national and international intergovernmental statistical publications from 1983 to the present. Includes citation information with large number of pdf or spreadsheet downloads available.

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Graduate Programs in Statistics and Biostatistics at Boston University

Boston University 's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers MA and PhD degrees in Statistics and Biostatistics. � Prof. Ralph D�Agostino is Director of the Graduate Program in Statistics and Executive Director of the Graduate Program in Biostatistics. � Prof. Lisa Sullivan is Co-Director of the Biostatistics Program. � Members of the Statistics and Consulting Unit have faculty appointments in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and are integrally involved in the graduate programs in Statistics and Biostatistics. � Graduate degrees in Statistics are administered through the Mathematics and Statistics Department in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. � G raduate degrees in Biostatistics are jointly administered by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. � The programs are outlined below.

q                    The MA and PhD in Probability Theory provide mathematical background for understanding random phenomenon in science and engineering, and provides the link between mathematics and statistics.

q                    The MA and PhD in Mathematical Statistics provide the foundation of modern statistical theory.

q                    The MA and PhD in Applied Statistics provide training for practitioners in broad applications of statistics.

q                    The MA and PhD in Biostatistics provide the opportunity to gain expertise in mathematical statistics, and allows for specialization in medical, epidemiologic and bioscientific applications of statistics.

The student who completes these programs will gain knowledge in probability, statistical inference and hypothesis testing, and in the design and conduct of clinical trials and other experimental and epidemiological studies, statistical computation, and data analysis.

Students attend full time or part time. � Some students receive additional training through research assistantships offered by the Graduate School. � These assistantships provide tuition and a stipend and require that the student work 20 hours per week on a funded grant such as the Framingham Heart Study.

Research interests of the faculty include multivariate analysis, survival analysis, medical statistics, clinical trials methodology, statistical genetics, robust statistics, longitudinal data analysis, time series, regression, estimation theory, and the design of experiments.

For more information on the programs in probability theory, mathematical statistics and applied statistics, go to http://math.bu.edu . � For more information on the programs in Biostatistics, go to http://www.bumc.bu.edu/Departments/HomeMainasp?DepartmentID=90 . � For application materials for any of the programs, go to http://www.bu.edu/apply . � If you would like to send an electronic message to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, write to [email protected] , or � contact the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, 705 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 112, Boston, MA 02215, U.S.A., telephone (617) 353-2696. �

Boston College

4 year • Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College is a private institution that was founded in 1863. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 9,484 (fall 2022), its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 405 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Boston College's ranking in the 2024 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, #39. Its tuition and fees are $67,680.

Boston College, located just outside downtown Boston, was founded by the Society of Jesus and has maintained its Roman Catholic Jesuit religious affiliation. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies it as a university with high research activity. BC has nine schools, which include such highly ranked graduate programs as the Lynch School of Education , Boston College Law School and Carroll School of Management . The school competes in nearly 30 NCAA Division I varsity sports in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the BC Eagles have one of the highest graduation rates for student athletes in the country. Students can join more than 200 clubs and organizations, but there is no Greek system on campus. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, but the majority choose to do so. More than 1,000 students participate in study abroad each year.

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Room & Board

$18,475 (2023-24)

Average Need-Based Aid Package

*Average cost after aid

Popular Majors

% OF GRADUATES

ALUMNI STARTING SALARY

Economics, General

Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Speech Communication and Rhetoric

Developmental and Child Psychology

Finance, General

* In cases where salary data at the specific major level is unavailable, a general salary for the major category is displayed.

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Publications Cited in Top 25% of Journals

Publications Cited in Top 5% of Journals

Total Papers published between 2018-2022

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Graduate Enrollment

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Full-Time Degree-Seeking Students

Student Diversity

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Ethnic Diversity

Minority Enrollment

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Two or more races

Not Specified is not included in this breakdown due to an enrollment of 0%.

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Boston College

Boston College is a higher education institution located in Middlesex County, MA . In 2022, the most popular Bachelors Degree concentrations at Boston College were General Finance (332 degrees awarded), Econometrics & Quantitative Economics (325 degrees), and General Biological Sciences (180 degrees).

In 2022, 5,067 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs at Boston College. 54.8% of these degrees were awarded to women, and 45.2% awarded men. The most common race/ethnicity group of degree recipients was white (2,995 degrees), 6.44 times more than then the next closest race/ethnicity group, asian (465 degrees).

The median undergraduate tuition at Boston College is $62,950, which is $32,800 more than the national average for Doctoral Universities ($30,150).

In 2022, the median undergraduate tuition at Boston College is $62,950, which is $32,800 more than the national average for Doctoral Universities ($30,150).

After taking grants and loans into account, the average net price for students is $30,559.

In 2022, 44% of undergraduate students attending Boston College received financial aid through grants. Comparatively, 33% of undergraduate students received financial aid through loans.

Tuition Costs

In 2022, the cost of tuition at Boston College was $62,950. The cost of tuition at Boston College is $32,800 more than than the overall (public and private) national average for Doctoral Universities ($30,150).

This chart compares the tuition costs of Boston College (in red) with those of other similar universities.

Average Net Price

In 2022 Boston College had an average net price — the price paid after factoring in grants and loans — of $30,559. Between 2021 and 2022, the average net price of Boston College grew by 1.33%.

This chart compares the average net price of Boston College (in red) with that of other similar universities.

Average net price is calculated from full-time beginning undergraduate students who were awarded a grant or scholarship from federal, state or local governments, or the institution.

Other Student Expenses

The average yearly cost of room and board at Boston College was of $13,576 in 2022. The cost of room and board increased by 1.43% between 2021 and 2022.

During the same period, the average yearly cost of books and supplies was $1,250. The cost of books and supplies did not change during the same period.

This chart compares the average student costs at Boston College (in red) with that of similar universities.

Financial Aid by Income Level

44% of undergraduate students at Boston College received financial aid through grants or loans in 2022. This represents a decline of 4.35% with respect to 2021, when 46% of undergraduate students received financial aid.

This chart compares the average award discount at Boston College (in red) with that of other similar universities.

The average award discount is the ratio between the average grant or scholarship value, and the cost, which is the sum of out-of-state tuition, room, board, book, supplies, and other expenses.

Student Loan Default Rate

In 2019 the default rate for borrower's at Boston College was 0.51%, which represents 10 out of the 1959 total borrowers.

A cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1 to September 30, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year.

Boston College received 40,494 undergraduate applications in 2022, which represents a 1.63% annual growth. Out of those 40,494 applicants, 6,748 students were accepted for enrollment, representing a 16.7% acceptance rate.

There were 15,287 students enrolled at Boston College in 2022. 34% of first-time enrollees submitted SAT scores with their applications.

Boston College has an overall enrollment yield of 34.6%, which represents the number of admitted students who ended up enrolling.

Acceptance Rate

In 2022, the undergraduate acceptance rate of Boston College was 16.7% (6,748 admissions from 40,494 applications). This is lower than the acceptance rate of 2021, which was 19%. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of applicants grew by 1.63%, while admissions declined by −11.1%..

This chart compares the acceptance rate of Boston College (in red) with that of other similar universities, and the chart below shows the acceptance rate by gender.

34% of enrolled first-time students at Boston College in 2022 submitted SAT scores with their applications.

The following chart shows the average SAT scores for the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of applicants for each section of the test that they are evaluated on.

Boston College had a total enrollment of 15,287 students in 2022. The full-time enrollment at Boston College is 13,437 students and the part-time enrollment is 1,850. This means that 87.9% of students enrolled at Boston College are enrolled full-time.

The enrolled student population at Boston College, both undergraduate and graduate, is 57.3% White, 9.62% Asian, 9.19% Hispanic or Latino, 5% Black or African American, 2.83% Two or More Races, 0.111% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.0327% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders.

Students enrolled at Boston College in full-time Undergraduate programs are most commonly White Female (31.2%), followed by White Male (26.5%) and Hispanic or Latino Female (5.89%). Students enrolled in full-time Graduate programs are most commonly White Female (34.6%), followed by White Male (19.8%) and Asian Female (4.4%).

Full-Time vs Part-Time Enrollment

The total enrollment at Boston College in 2022, both undergraduate and graduate, is 15,287 students. The full-time enrollment at Boston College is 13,437 and the part-time enrollment is 1,850. This means that 87.9% of students enrolled at Boston College are enrolled full-time compared with 77.4% at similar Doctoral Universities .

This chart shows the full-time vs part-time enrollment status at Boston College (in red) compares to similar universities.

Retention Rate over Time

Retention rate measures the number of first-time students who began their studies the previous fall and returned to school the following fall. The retention rate for full-time undergraduates at Boston College was 95%. Compared with the full-time retention rate at similar Doctoral Universities (84%), Boston College had a retention rate higher than its peers.

This chart shows the retention rate over time at Boston College (highlighted in red) compares to similar universities.

Enrollment by Race & Ethnicity

• White 8,766 enrolled students
• Asian 1,470 enrolled students
• Hispanic or Latino 1,405 enrolled students

The enrolled student population at Boston College is 57.3% White, 9.62% Asian, 9.19% Hispanic or Latino, 5% Black or African American, 2.83% Two or More Races, 0.111% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.0327% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders. This includes both full-time and part-time students as well as graduate and undergraduates. By comparison, enrollment for all Doctoral Universities is 47.5% White, 15.5% Hispanic or Latino, and 9.58% Black or African American.

Any student who is studying in the United States on a temporary basis is categorized as a "Non-Resident Alien", and the share of those students are shown in the chart below. Additionally, 662 students (4.33%) did not report their race.

In 2022, 485 more women than men received degrees from Boston College. The most common race/ethnicity group of degree recipients at Boston College is white (2,995 degrees awarded). There were 6.44 times more white recipients than the next closest race/ethnicity group, asian (465 degrees).

The most common Bachelor's Degree concentration at Boston College is General Finance (332 degrees awarded), followed by Econometrics & Quantitative Economics (325 degrees) and General Biological Sciences (180 degrees).

In 2022,  the most specialized majors across all degree types at Boston College, meaning they have significantly more degrees awarded in that concentration than the national average across all institutions, are Philosophy and Religious Studies (110 degrees awarded), Legal (280 degrees), and Theology (111 degrees).

Common Jobs by Major

The most common jobs for people who hold a degree in one of the 5 most specialized majors at Boston College are Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers (352,863 people), Other managers (253,394 people), Postsecondary teachers (156,952 people), Elementary & middle school teachers (148,070 people), and Clergy (124,663 people).

The most specialized majors at Boston College in 2022 are Philosophy and Religious Studies (110 degrees awarded), Legal (280 degrees), Theology (111 degrees), Math & Statistics (204 degrees), and Social Sciences (668 degrees) (as of 2022).

Highest Paying Jobs by Major

The highest paying jobs for people who hold a degree in one of the 5 most specialized majors at Boston College are Surgeons , Cardiovascular technologists and technicians , Securities, commodities, & financial services sales agents , Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists , and Dentists

The most specialized majors at Boston College are Philosophy and Religious Studies (110 degrees awarded), Legal (280 degrees), Theology (111 degrees), Math & Statistics (204 degrees), and Social Sciences (668 degrees) (as of 2022).

Common Industries by Major

The most common industries for people who hold a degree in one of the 5 most specialized majors at Boston College are Elementary & secondary schools (377,199 people), Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges (313,012 people), Legal services (288,726 people), Computer Systems Design (238,606 people), and Justice, public order, & safety activities (183,309 people).

Majors Awarded

• General Finance 332 degrees awarded
• Econometrics & Quantitative Economics 325 degrees awarded
• General Biological Sciences 180 degrees awarded

In 2022, the most common bachelors degree concentration at Boston College was General Finance with 332 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of degree-majors recipients from bachelors degree programs at Boston College according to their major.

Sex Breakdown for Common Majors

In 2022, 2,291 degrees were awarded to men at Boston College, which is 0.825 times less than the number of degrees awarded to females (2,776).

This chart displays the sex disparity between the top 5 majors at Boston College by degrees awarded.

Most Common Male Majors

In 2022, 289 degrees were awarded to men at Boston College in General Finance , which is 2.92 times more than the 99 female recipients with that same degree.

Most Common Female Majors

In 2022, 215 degrees were awarded to men at Boston College in Social Work , which is 5.12 times more than the 42 male recipients with that same degree.

Time to Complete

In 2022, 89% of students graduating from Boston College completed their program within 100% "normal time" (i.e. 4 years for a 4-year degree). Comparatively, 92% completed their degrees within 150% of the normal time, and 92% within 200%.

The following chart shows these completion rates over time compared to the average for the Doctoral Universities Carnegie Classification group.

Graduation rate is defined as the percentage of full-time, first-time students who received a degree or award within a specific percentage of "normal time" to completion for their program.

Graduation Rate by Race and Sex

The student demographic with the highest graduation rate in 2022 at Boston College is Female and American Indian or Alaska Native (100% graduation rate). Across all Doctoral Universities , Asian Female students have the highest graduation rate (73.2%).

The department of education defines graduation rate as the percentage of full-time, first-time students who received a degree or award within 150% of "normal time" to completion.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) categorizes any student who is studying in the United States on a temporary basis as a "Non-Resident Alien", and the graduation rate of those students is shown in the chart below. Additionally, 3.28% of graduates (69 students) did not report their race.

Race & Ethnicity by Share

• White 2,995 degrees awarded
• Asian 465 degrees awarded
• Hispanic or Latino 426 degrees awarded

The most common race/ethnicity at Boston College is white (2,995 degrees awarded). There were 6.44 times more white recipients than the next closest race/ethnicity group, asian (465 degrees).

4.97% of degree recipients (252 students) did not report their race.

Race & Ethnicity by Sex

• White Female 1,648 degrees awarded
• White Male 1,347 degrees awarded
• Asian Female 255 degrees awarded

The most common race/ethnicity and sex grouping at Boston College is white female (1,648 degrees awarded). There were 1.22 times more white female recipients than the next closest race/ethnicity group, white male (1347 degrees).

Boston College has an endowment valued at nearly $3.72B, as of the end of the 2022 fiscal year. The return on its endowment was of −NaNM (−3.95%) compared to the 1.13% average return (4.2M on 373M) across all Doctoral Universities .

In 2022, Boston College had a total salary expenditure of 957M. Boston College employs 323 Professors, 273 Associate professors and 197 Assistant professors. Most academics at Boston College are Male Professor (218), Female Associate professor (137), and Male Associate professor (136).

The most common positions for non-instructional staff at Boston College are: Management, with 557 employees, Service, with 444 employees, and Office and Administrative Support with 322 employees.

Boston College has an endowment valued at about $3.72B, as of the end of the 2022 fiscal year. The endowment of Boston College declined 1.59% from the previous year. The value of their endowment was $3.34B higher than than the median endowment of Doctoral Universities according to the Carnegie Classification grouping.

This line chart shows how the endowment at Boston College (in red) compares to that of some similar universities.

The small bar chart below shows the endowment quintiles for all universities in the Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity Carnegie Classification grouping.

Government Grants and Contracts

• $60.9M - Federal
• $1.83M - State
• $4.73M - Local

As of 2022, Boston College received $60.9M in grants and contracts from the federal government, $1.83M from state grants and contracts, and $4.73M from local grants and contracts.

Salary Expenditure

In 2022, Boston College paid a median of $415M in salaries, which represents 43.4% of their overall expenditure ($957M) and a 4.53% growth from the previous year.

The median for similar Doctoral Universities is 246M (41.5% of overall expenditures).

Instructional Salaries

In 2022, Boston College paid a total of $133M to 888 employees working as instructors, which represents 31.9% of all salaries paid.

This is compared to a median of $73.7M (30%) for similar Doctoral Universities.

Occupations by Share

In 2022, the most common positions for instructional staff at Boston College were Professor with 323 employees, Associate professor with 273 employees, and Assistant professor with 197 employees.

In 2022, the most common positions for non-instructional staff at Boston College were Management with 557 employees, Service with 444 employees, and Office and Administrative Support with 322 employees.

Instructors by Academic Rank and Sex

• Male Professor
• Female Associate professor
• Male Associate professor

In 2022, the most common demographic for instructional staff at Boston College was Male Professor with 218 employees, Female Associate professor with 137 employees, and Male Associate professor with 136 employees.

This chart shows the sex split between each academic rank present at Boston College.

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Boston College PhD in Mathematics

The main focus area for this major is General Mathematics . For more details on this concentration, visit its profile page.

Mathematics is a major offered under the mathematics and statistics program of study at Boston College. Here, you’ll find out more about the major doctor’s degree program in math, including such details as the number of graduates, diversity of students, and more.

If there’s something special you’re looking for, you can use one of the links below to find it:

• Graduate Cost
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Featured Programs

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.

BA in Mathematics

If you have a knack for mathematics and an interest in learning more, study online to achieve your career goals at Southern New Hampshire University. Our mathematics degree can help you enhance your mathematical abilities, including reasoning and problem-solving in three areas: analysis, algebra and statistics.

BA in Mathematics - Applied Mathematics

Put mathematical concepts to work to solve today's most complex real-world problems by studying applied mathematics with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.

How Much Does a Doctorate in Math from Boston College Cost?

Boston college graduate tuition and fees.

During the 2019-2020 academic year, part-time graduate students at Boston College paid an average of $0 per credit hour. No discount was available for in-state students. Information about average full-time graduate student tuition and fees is shown in the table below.

Does Boston College Offer an Online PhD in Math?

Boston College does not offer an online option for its math doctor’s degree program at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the Boston College Online Learning page.

Boston College Doctorate Student Diversity for Math

Male-to-female ratio.

About 50.0% of the students who received their PhD in math in 2019-2020 were women. This is higher than the nationwide number of 25.4%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Racial-ethnic minority graduates* made up 25.0% of the math doctor’s degrees at Boston College in 2019-2020. This is higher than the nationwide number of 12%.

PhD in Math Focus Areas at Boston College

Mathematics students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.

Majors Related to a PhD in Math From Boston College

You may also be interested in one of these majors related to mathematics.

View All Mathematics Related Majors >

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

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Ph.D. Program

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The Ph.D. degree in History is offered with concentrations in United States, medieval, early modern European, modern European (including British/Irish/British Empire), Asian, and Middle Eastern history. We also offer course work in African and Latin American history.

During the first semester of full-time study, doctoral students choose a faculty advisor, who oversees the student's progress in preparing for comprehensive exams and in developing a dissertation topic.

The Ph.D. is a research degree and requires special commitment and skills. While the degree is not granted for routine adherence to certain regulations, or for the successful completion of a specified number of courses, there are certain basic requirements.

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Course Requirements

Plan of study, fields of study, language requirement, the comprehensive exam, dissertation proposal, the dissertation.

Students in the Ph.D. program must complete a minimum of 39 credits (13 courses). Thirty-six credits must be completed before the oral comprehensive exam. All students in the Ph.D. program are required to pursue full-time study in the first year. Students must take at least one seminar in each of their first two years and at least three colloquia (the Introduction to Doctoral Studies, one in a major area, and one in a minor area) before the comprehensive exam.

Only history courses numbered 4000 or above count towards the doctoral requirements. In the first year, students take three courses per semester; in the second, two courses per semester. In the third year, students take two courses in the fall, complete their comprehensive exam, and then take the Dissertation Seminar in the spring. By the end of the third year, Ph.D. students should have completed all 39 credits. After the Dissertation Proposal is signed and filed, students officially enter into doctoral candidacy (informally known as All But Dissertation or ABD).

At the start of each academic year, students meet with the Director of Graduate Studies to go over their plan of study, which is a schedule of courses that will prepare students for the comprehensive examination. For the comprehensive exam students must prepare three areas of concentration or fields, typically two major and one minor. In exceptional circumstances students may pick four areas of concentration, two major and two minor. For each area of concentration, students must identify a faculty member who will serve as an examiner.

In consultation with the examiner for each area students develop a reading list of important books and articles. Most faculty members require students to undertake formal coursework in preparation for the comprehensive exam. With the approval of the advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies, students may offer for their minor field a discipline related to history or a historical topic that cuts across traditional geographical or chronological boundaries. If necessary to a student’s program, the department may require advanced-level study in a related discipline, either as a minor field or as supplemental work. This plan of study may be reviewed, evaluated and revised as necessary. However, changes must be approved by the faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

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Transnational

• Atlantic World

The language requirement is specific to Ph.D. candidates’ major field of study. Medievalists must pass three language exams, one of which must be in Latin. US historians must pass one language exam (beginning with the class entering in the fall of 2021). In all other fields (Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East), Ph.D. candidates must pass two language exams. Students will pass one language exam during the first year in the program, and the second (and third, if applicable) exam before taking the oral comprehensive examination. Students may substitute competency in a field of particular methodological or theoretical relevance to their program of study for competency in a second foreign language. To do so, students must petition the Graduate Committee and explain the nature of the field and its importance to the plan of study, particularly the dissertation. Work done in that field must be documented. The student’s faculty advisor is responsible for certifying that the student has satisfactorily acquired the appropriate skills and knowledge.

An oral comprehensive examination for Ph.D. students is conducted by an examining board composed of three faculty members, two from the student’s major area and one each from the minor area. (Students preparing four areas will be examined by four faculty members.) A written examination may be substituted for an oral exam at the discretion of the student and the examining board.

Students must take their oral comprehensive exam before the start of the spring semester in their third year of study. As preparation for the comprehensive exam, students select three areas for study and complete the necessary coursework for those areas. They must ask three different faculty members to serve as examiners and in consultation with the faculty prepare a reading list for each area. Students are advised to constitute their orals committee by the end of their second year so that they can prepare for orals during the summer before their third year. Each student is responsible for setting an exam date and time in consultation with the faculty examiners. After doing this, student should contact the Graduate Assistant who will reserve a room and prepare the necessary paperwork. The exam itself will last two hours, and each professor will have a chance to ask a number of questions regarding their field.

In the spring semester of the third year, students enroll in the dissertation seminar in which they draft a dissertation proposal. The proposal is an overview of the dissertation question, research agenda, methodology, likely source base, relevant historiography, and a timeline for research and writing. The proposal will be graded by the faculty member teaching the dissertation seminar. During this semester, students should also assemble a dissertation committee, which typically will consist of their academic advisor, who will serve as chairand at least two other faculty members. With the permission of their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies, students may select committee members from outside the department. The proposal must be approved by the student’s dissertation committee. The proposal and the signed proposal approval form must be submitted to the Graduate Assistant who will add it to the student’s file.

Upon admission to doctoral candidacy, students research and write their dissertation, which is an original contribution to knowledge based on extensive primary and secondary research. The completed dissertation must be approved by a committee of three readers - the faculty advisor and two other faculty members - and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. It must also be defended at a public oral defense.

Ph.D. Placements

Chair and professor of history.

Wheaton College

Distinguished Research Professor

University of California, Los Angeles

Postdoctoral Fellow

Princeton University, Society of Fellows

Director of Undergraduate Studies

University of Notre Dame

History Teacher

Selma City Schools

Assistant Professor

Waseda University, Tokyo

Research Fellow

International Peace Institute

Honors Program, Boston College

Harvard College Writing Program

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How to Apply

The application deadline for the Ph.D. program is January 2. The submission of GRE General Test scores is optional. To start an application, please visit the Admission page of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences.

Discernment for Doctoral Students

An internship program through BC's Institute for the Liberal Arts supports career exploration for Ph.D. students.

History Department Stokes Hall South, 3rd Floor

617-552-3781

Statistics and Probability at Boston University

At Boston University, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics has a highly active program in statistics.  Members of the Statistics and Probability group are involved in a diverse range of research areas in probability and statistics, with collaborative ties to a variety of other scientific fields, and are responsible for degree program specializations in statistics at the B.A. M.S. , M.A. , and Ph.D. levels.   For an overview of our Graduate Programs, click here.  If you are looking to submit a consulting request with our MSSP program, please click here.

Why Study Statistics

WHAT IS STATISTICS ? Statistics is the science and, arguably, also the art of learning from data. As a discipline it is concerned with…

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics has experts working across diverse areas of probability and statistics. The department’s statistical expertise spans the field’s theoretical,…

This Is Statistics

This is Statistics is an American Statistical Association (ASA) campaign to raise awareness of the many interesting careers in statistics, a long established profession…

Want to contact us? We can be reached through the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Department of Mathematics and Statistics Boston University 665 Commonwealth…

‘There are no jobs’: PhD graduates struggle to build careers in academia

For the first time in decades, Ian Corbin has dental insurance.

Over the past 15 years, Corbin has been a doctoral student, an adjunct professor, and a postdoctoral fellow. And trying to scrape together a living has been tough. “I was always hustling,” he says.

When Corbin — who holds a PhD in philosophy from Boston College and works at the intersection of ethics and medicine — was a postdoc at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2019, he earned about $50,000 a year and had kids to support. “So I was always teaching classes in the evening and publishing articles as fast as I could. Just taking on really anything that anyone would give me,” he says.

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Corbin’s story isn’t unusual. For many of those with doctorates, who typically spend between four and seven years in graduate school, the employment picture is increasingly bleak, especially for jobs in academia.

Maren Wood, who founded a firm that helps those with doctorates find jobs, says that the market for full-time professors has collapsed. Between 2007 and 2020, the number of openings in philosophy dropped by roughly half. The number of openings in English fell by about 60 percent .

Universities staffed up to accommodate millennials, she says, and now they’re trying to cope with declining enrollments, which are predicted to continue indefinitely . “There’s nothing wrong with a PhD,” says Wood, chief executive of Beyond the Professoriate, whose platform is currently used by Harvard and BC . “The problem is there are no jobs.”

Wood holds a PhD in history, and her breaking point was in 2011 when she came in second place for a job thousands of miles away. The gig was a one-year position. In Reno. And she was told the pay wouldn’t even be enough to live on.

The woman doing the hiring encouraged Wood. “You came in second place!” she exclaimed.

“For what?” Wood asked.

Wood had hoped to be a professor. She had been a top student and earned her PhD from the University of North Carolina. But it didn’t take long to realize: Despite the fact that she had a prestigious degree, there were virtually no decent jobs in universities.

Often, those with doctorates serve as adjunct professors — sometimes while they look for a more permanent gig. To students, adjuncts and tenure-track faculty may appear to be the same. They have PhDs. Students call them “professor.”

But when it comes to stability, they’re worlds apart. Adjuncts rarely get health care. They’re generally paid between $3,000 and $7,000 per class, and you might have to drive considerable distances to get from one job to another.

Over 30 percent of nontenure-track educators in higher education make under $25,000 a year, according to a 2019 survey by the American Federation of Teachers . Another 30 percent make between $25,000 and $50,000 a year. But over the past few decades, the number of adjuncts has grown much faster than the ranks of full-time faculty.

The dearth of jobs has been particularly tough on those in the social sciences, humanities, and some sciences, including biology. Richard Larson, a professor of data, systems, and society at MIT, has noted that many professors churn out lots of doctoral students over the course of their careers — and a good chunk of those students would like to be professors themselves.

But the math simply doesn’t work. Only a few of those grad students — fewer than 20 percent — can get the sort of job that their advisers have. (Though there are certainly disciplines — including chemical engineering and computer science — in which graduates can find jobs fairly easily, often in industry.)

Kristina Aikens, who earned her PhD in English from Tufts University, initially tried to piece together a living as an adjunct. For a year and a half, she says, she was teaching four or five classes in two or three locations, which is a common — though brutal — workload.

Aikens doesn’t believe that doctoral students — particularly in humanities — understand the real threat of finding themselves in an unstable position. “I think people think it won’t happen to them,” she says. “It’s not because they think that they’re better than anyone else. It’s just a denial that they’re in.”

But the threat of job instability is considerable. Massachusetts is not only the state with the highest percentage of people with undergraduate degrees; it also has the highest percentage of those with graduate degrees . And while many of those degree holders are thriving, too many live in precarious situations — situations made all the more precarious by the extraordinarily high cost of housing in the Boston area.

So if the supply of academic jobs has waned, why don’t doctoral programs simply slim down and admit fewer students?

Most of the people I spoke with noted that professors may be loath to give up their graduate students because they genuinely enjoy working with them. Grad students can talk about esoteric areas of scholarship, built on years of deep study.

“I think that faculty want to believe that they’re doing good,” says Wood. “I think that graduate deans generally believe that graduate education does good. And the fact that universities have paid so little attention to career outcomes means that they don’t actually have good data to work with.”

It’s also possible that schools’ reluctance to admit fewer graduate students is financially motivated. Universities often run on the work of grad students, as the Boston University strike has demonstrated . Grad students teach sections of large classes. They work in labs. They perform in-the-field research.

“The business model only works with a lot of cheap labor,” Corbin says. “I think it’s bad. I think it’s bad for students. I think it’s bad for the classroom. I think it’s bad for the grad students and the perennial adjuncts.” But, he believes, doctoral students represent an enormous pool of untapped talent.

Corbin is now a tenure-track researcher in neurology at Harvard Medical School, with a secondary appointment in bioethics. It’s a job he likes, and life feels much more stable. “It’s becoming less desperate,” he says.

Aikens — who now serves as the program director of writing support at Tufts — says she doesn’t regret getting a doctorate, and she doesn’t think we should preclude people from pursuing that sort of intense study.

Coming from a working-class background in West Virginia, she had wanted to see if she could do it. And the six years she spent getting a PhD were hard. But she knew that success wouldn’t necessarily lead to employment:

“At my graduation, literally at the ceremony, I turned to my friend and said: ‘Should I apply to law school? Because I don’t think this is going to work out.’”

Follow Kara Miller @karaemiller .