
The Heller PhD program is built on a strong foundation in core research methods, allowing for considerable flexibility in choosing your own electives.
Choose a concentration that aligns with your long-term interests and select courses that will give you a multifaceted perspective on today's—and tomorrow's—most critical social policy issues. In addition to two years of coursework, PhD students participate in a doctoral seminar, complete a comprehensive exam and successfully defend a dissertation within four to six years. Every full-time student receives tuition and stipend support.
Doctoral students learn from Heller faculty and researchers in the classroom, through their concentration and in their dissertation committee. Heller PhD students learn to design and conduct policy research in a program with a 100% employment rate at a top-ten graduate school of social policy, home to 10 renowned research centers and institutes that cover social policy areas ranging from disability policy to economic and racial equity. Discover how to generate knowledge that can improve people’s lives and effect structural change.