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General Program Requirements for the Katz Doctoral Degree in Business
The Katz doctoral program is designed to be flexible, enabling you to develop an individual program of study that will complement the research mentoring provided by our faculty. You may choose courses from Katz doctoral seminars, University of Pittsburgh doctoral and graduate courses (campuswide), or courses offered at Carnegie Mellon University through the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education.
To successfully complete the doctoral program, you must fulfill requirements in the following five areas:
General Management Requirements
Doctoral students must complete at least six credits of MBA coursework. The courses chosen should be significantly different than the student’s major area of study. Students holding MBA degrees from accredited institutions may petition for waiver of this requirement.
Major Requirement
Students in the PhD program are required to complete at least 24 credits (eight courses) in their major area of study. Students should identify a faculty advisor in their major field and develop a course list to satisfy these requirements. Students will be assigned an advisor during their first term to assist with course choices. However, students are then able to choose an advisor whose research interest is most aligned with their own.
Minor Requirements
Students are required to complete at least nine credits in a minor area of study, or combine their minor and research methods requirement into a 21 credit research methods concentration. Students must consult their major advisor for approval of these courses.
Teaching Requirement
All students in the PhD program are expected to gain classroom-teaching experience (at least six credits) as primary instructors before graduating. Students receiving GSA/TA/TF positions are required to teach the equivalent of 15 credits. For more information, review the Katz GSA/TA/TF PhD Student Teaching Policy (PDF).
Research Methodology Requirement
Doctoral students are required to complete at least 12 credits of course work in research methodology or combine their minor and research methods requirement into a 21 credit research methods concentration. Students should aim to acquire a high level of sophistication in research methods.
Students are expected to fulfill these requirements during the coursework phase of the program, which usually takes two years. After completing these requirements, students must take a comprehensive examination (comprehensive examinations must be completed by the end of the student’s seventh term of study). Successful completion of this examination allows students to begin the dissertation phase of the program. Students must complete the teaching requirement before graduation.
For a complete description of the program structure download a copy of the Program of Study (PDF). For detailed information about courses by major area, please see Areas of Study.