Programs of Study
Full-Time Degree Candidacy
Most students enrolled in the graduate school are registered for full-time study as they pursue a Ph.D. or master’s degree program. These students devote their full effort to coursework, preparing for qualifying examinations, gaining teaching experience, and researching and writing a thesis or dissertation. Students who are employed full time at the time of admission must terminate their employment prior to matriculating in the graduate school no later than August 15 of the year in which they matriculate.
Part-Time Study
In rare circumstances, qualified individuals who are unable to devote their full time to graduate study may apply and be admitted as part-time students in terminal master’s programs. For more complete information, see Part-Time Study under Academic Regulations.
Nondegree Study
Qualified individuals who wish to study at the graduate level as nondegree candidates may be admitted to the Division of Special Registration (DSR). Admission to the DSR is for one term or one year only and carries with it no commitment by the graduate school for further study. Students admitted for the academic year must demonstrate satisfactory academic performance in the first term in order to register for the second term. Students in the DSR may obtain transcripts indicating the appropriate credit for work completed. Students enrolled full-time in the DSR may pursue internship opportunities only after they complete their program. They may not concurrently participate in an internship while enrolled in the DSR. International students who are in the United States on a J-1 visa should consult with the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) about their eligibility to extend their visa in order to participate in an internship opportunity after their program.
DSR students engaged solely in course work are identified as visiting students. Although normally admitted for full-time study, visiting students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents may be admitted for part-time study and are charged tuition on a per-course basis, whether for credit or audit. International visiting students must maintain a record of full-time enrollment (four courses for credit per term) for the duration of their program due to visa requirements. Please refer to Financing Graduate School for a schedule of tuition and fee charges. Students admitted to the DSR as vsiting students are not eligible for financial aid, including federal and most nonfederal student loans.
Advanced graduate students who are degree candidates (at the master’s or Ph.D. level) at another university and who have made arrangements with a specific graduate school faculty member for a research project under that faculty member’s direct supervision may be admitted to the DSR as visiting assistants in research. Undergraduate students in combined or simultaneous B.S./M.S., B.A./M.A., or similar programs are not considered advanced graduate students. Visiting assistants in research are not eligible to take courses and are limited to a maximum of two years of study. Student research conducted at Yale must be part of the visiting assistant in research’s degree requirements. The extent and location of the research completed at Yale must be cited in the completed thesis or dissertation. The graduate school does not provide financial support to visiting assistants in research. Such students either hold standard graduate-student assistantship in research appointments that are funded by the faculty adviser or provide their own funding through external awards or personal resources. Please refer to Financing Graduate School for a schedule of tuition and fee charges.
Detailed information, requirements, and access to the online DSR application are available at https://gsas.yale.edu/admissions/non-degree-application-process. DSR applicants must provide evidence of insurance coverage for the duration of their studies at Yale at the time of application.
Some departments at Yale have formal exchange agreements with universities in other countries that have been approved by the graduate school. Graduate students who are admitted to Yale under such approved exchange agreements may be registered as exchange scholars. Exchange scholars are not normally charged tuition. They may enroll in up to four courses per term for a maximum of two terms (one year). International exchange scholars must maintain a record of full-time enrollment for the duration of their program due to visa requirements, either by enrolling in four courses for credit if engaging solely in coursework, by engaging in a full-time program of research, or by engaging in a combination of coursework and research.
In rare circumstances, students may apply for a second year of registration in the DSR; however, cumulative enrollment is limited to two years. Students enrolled in the DSR who are subsequently admitted to degree programs in the graduate school may receive academic and tuition credit for no more than four courses completed while enrolled in the DSR, provided that the department recommends such credit and the appropriate academic dean approves.
Interdisciplinary Study
All graduate students are formally associated with one department or program, and in the case of students in combined-degree programs, with two. Students may, however, be encouraged to take one or more courses in related departments. Students are often advised by faculty members from more than one department during their dissertation research. Students in the graduate school, with permission of the director of graduate studies and the relevant school, may take advantage of particular course or research opportunities in Yale College and Yale’s professional schools.
Combined- and Joint-Degree Programs
Students interested in African American Studies, Early Modern Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies pursue a combined Ph.D. with departments in related fields. In addition to these academic programs, there are several formal interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs in the graduate school listed under the appropriate departmental entries of this bulletin. Current students may not transfer to a combined Ph.D. program after they have advanced to candidacy. Ad hoc programs may also be approved. A student who is interested in an ad hoc program should prepare a written proposal for review and approval by the relevant departments and academic dean before the student has advanced to candidacy. The proposal must include an agreed-upon listing of course and other requirements, along with a timeline for completion of the degree.
Students are encouraged to contact the appropriate directors of graduate studies about specific opportunities for interdisciplinary study throughout the graduate school and university.
The graduate school also participates in formal joint-degree programs with certain professional schools, including the J.D./M.A. and J.D./Ph.D. programs in cooperation with the Law School; the M.D./Ph.D. program in cooperation with the School of Medicine; and the Ph.D./M.B.A. program in cooperation with the School of Management. In addition, joint-degree programs with professional schools have been approved for master’s students in Chemical & Environmental Engineering, European and Russian Studies, and International and Development Economics. These programs are described in the individual departmental listings.
For all joint-degree programs except the M.D./Ph.D., students are required to submit formal applications to both the professional school and the graduate school indicating their interest in enrolling in the joint program. Individuals interested in the M.D./Ph.D. program apply directly to the M.D./Ph.D. program. (See Requirements for Joint-Degree Programs, under Degree Requirements.)
Cooperative Degree Program
Yale-University of Puerto Rico M.D./Ph.D. Cooperative Program
The Yale-UPR M.D./Ph.D Cooperative Program allows students to obtain an M.D. from the University of Puerto Rico Medical School (UPR-SOM) and a Ph.D. from the Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) in approximately eight years. This program is targeted to those students who are committed to a research career in biomedical, translational, or health sciences, and who meet the requirements for admission to both the Ph.D. program at Yale and the M.D. program at UPR-MSC.
Application and Admissions Process
Prospective students apply simultaneously to UPR-SOM and to Yale through each institution’s respective online application process. Students may also apply to the cooperative program during their first year at UPR-SOM. The admission process for UPR-SOM starts in December and ends by mid-March, by which time Yale usually provides its decision on admissions to the Ph.D. program. Students must be accepted by both programs to participate in the M.D./Ph.D. Cooperative Program. Admission to UPR-SOM or to Yale does not guarantee admission to the M.D./Ph.D. Cooperative Program.
Program Details
Years One to Three: UPR-SOM
Students will complete the first three years of medical school at UPR-SOM. In the summer after year one they will conduct a lab rotation at Yale between the first week of June and July 29. Yale will cover the costs of round-trip airfare, housing, and living expenses during the summer rotations. In the summer after year two they will complete USMLE Step I. Students must pass the USMLE Step I and Step II prior to the start of the Ph.D. degree at Yale. USMLE Step II should be completed no later than the conclusion of the month of July at the end of the third year of medical school.
Years Four to Seven: Yale
Lab rotations will continue in the fall semester of the students’ fourth year, and students will select a thesis lab by the start of the spring semester and join their thesis adviser’s department. In years four and five they will complete course requirements for the Ph.D. degree, take a qualifying exam, and begin thesis research. At some point during years five through seven they will serve as teaching fellows for one semester. Academic progress will be monitored by each student’s director of graduate studies, and research progress will be assessed by each student’s thesis committee. At the end of each academic year, Yale BBS will provide a letter or report indicating that the student is in good standing and has completed all the milestones required for the Ph.D. as scheduled by the curriculum of the Ph.D. program. This will allow UPR-SOM to certify progress and ensure compliance with the requirements of the M.D./Ph.D. dual degree program at UPR-SOM. Students must include a Yale School of Medicine-designated faculty member on the thesis committee to help ensure that the students complete their theses in a timely fashion. Completion of the Ph.D. degree is estimated to take approximately four to five years. Students must remain in good standing at Yale during the Ph.D. training.
Year Eight: Return to UPR-SOM and Graduation
After receiving the Ph.D. from Yale University, students will return to UPR-SOM for the remainder of their medical training and to receive their M.D. degree. The expectation is that the M.D. degree will not be awarded prior to the completion of the Ph.D. requirements. It is anticipated that the Cooperative Program will generally require approximately eight to nine years to complete. The maximum time allowed for completion of both degrees is a total of ten years combined. Any exceptions to this timeline will be reviewed and determined on a case-by-case basis for any trainee who may need take a leave of absence during the program.
Exchange Scholar Program
http://gsas.yale.edu/ivyplus-exchange-scholar-program
Graduate students in Yale Ph.D. programs may petition to enroll full- or part-time for a term or an academic year as exchange scholars at the University of California at Berkeley, Brown, the University of Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Stanford. The Exchange Scholar Program enables students to take advantage of educational opportunities not available at their home institutions. Applications are available at the website listed above. Please direct questions to Associate Dean Jasmina Besirevic (jasmina.besirevic@yale.edu). Applications must be received at least eight weeks prior to the beginning of the term for which the student is applying.
International Graduate Student Exchange Agreements
http://gsas.yale.edu/international-exchange-programs
The graduate school has established and continues to develop formal exchanges with a number of institutions internationally in cases where there are reciprocal academic benefits for faculty and graduate students. Yale doctoral students may participate in the international exchanges listed below. Most of them last one term or a full academic year, and a small number of exchanges are available for summers only.
All international exchange agreements must be approved in advance by the graduate school to ensure that they meet university policies and graduate school guidelines. Departments interested in establishing an exchange program must prepare a statement that demonstrates that there is a clear academic and reciprocal need for the program, and that the program will conform to the established guidelines for exchange agreements. Students and faculty interested in pursuing these exchanges should contact Associate Dean Jasmina Besirevic (jasmina.besirevic@yale.edu).
International Exchange Programs
Classics
Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS), Pisa, Italy
Economics
Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland; Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris [“Sciences Po”], France; Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy; Universität Bonn, Germany; Universität Mannheim, Germany
French
École Normale Supérieure-PSL, Paris, France; Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris [“Sciences Po”], France
Graduate School
Baden-Württemberg Exchange, Germany; Center for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR), Pisa, Italy; Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland; German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany; Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS), Kyoto, Japan; Royal Holloway College, University of London, England; Università di Trento, Italy; University College London, England
History
Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris [“Sciences Po”], France
Italian Studies
Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS), Pisa, Italy
Political Science
Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), University of Oxford, England; Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, France [“Sciences Po”]; Nuffield College, University of Oxford, England
Public Health
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Sociology
Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris [“Sciences Po”], France; University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Summer Study
Doctoral students are funded year-round and are expected to make progress toward the completion of their degrees during the summer months. (See Summer Registration under Registration Status and Leaves of Absence, under Academic Regulations.) See individual departmental policies in this bulletin regarding specific expectations for degree programs during the summer. Although the graduate school does not offer academic courses in the summer, language for reading instruction is available through the Yale Summer Session, and doctoral students may wish to take advantage of these programs.