Degrees Offered
PhD, PhD/MS with Epidemiology, PhD/MA with Applied Sociology (UMBC)
Program Description
The Doctoral Program in Gerontology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) provides an interdisciplinary and integrative perspective on the process of human aging and the experiences of growing old. The approach acknowledges the complex, dynamic, and bidirectional relationship between individuals and the historical, political, economic, environmental, psychological, social, cultural, and biological contexts in which aging occurs. The goal of the program is to train a new generation of scholars conversant with interdisciplinary and integrative paradigms and research designs to examine the unique, reciprocal, and dynamic nature of aging in context. UMB’s six professional schools (dental, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work) and UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences departments (public policy, psychology, and sociology/ anthropology) combine to make this mission possible by offering three tracks of study:
- Aging policy issues
- Epidemiology of aging
- Social, cultural, and behavioral sciences.
The program also offers a dual-degree program between gerontology and epidemiology and a combined degree program between gerontology and applied sociology. Students earn a PhD in gerontology and a master’s degree in epidemiology or applied sociology.
Students train for careers in research, academia, government, and private organizations. We have embraced nonacademic positions as valuable venues for contribution by our alumni.
Program Admission
Applications are accepted for fall admission only. All application materials must be received by Jan. 15 of the year in which the student intends to enroll. Three letters of recommendation, highly competitive Graduation Record Examinations scores (suggested combined score of 300 or better), transcripts, and a goals statement are required of all applicants. The Test of English as a Foreign Language or the International English Language Testing System exam is required for all international students who do not have a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a U.S. institution and/or whose native language or language of the home is not English. The program encourages the application of candidates from racial and ethnic minorities under-represented in the sciences. The program offers graduate research assistantships that provide a stipend, tuition remission, and student health insurance.
Degree Requirements
The PhD program consists of a minimum of 49 course credits (21 core course credits, 12 research methods and statistics course credits, 9 track specialization course credits, 6 elective course credits, and 1 ethics course credit). Comprehensive exams are required to be admitted to doctoral status. These exams take place the summer between the second and third year for full-time students. All students must complete at least 12 credits of dissertation research and successfully defend a dissertation. In addition, students attend a bimonthly aging forum and required seminars.
Required Courses at UMB
Required courses At UMBC
| GERO 672 | ISSUES IN AGING POLICY | 3 |
| GERO 700 | SOCIOCULTURAL GERONTOLOGY | |
| GERO 786 | PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF AGING | |
| GERO 751 | THEORY AND METHODS II | 3 |
Available Track and Elective Courses
Track courses and electives are selected from available courses for each track as well as from courses offered on each campus that contribute to the student’s area of research in consultation with the student’s advisor.
part of this catalog.