The process of awarding a Ph.D. in economics is governed by rules, so every so often I add a program’s rule-book here. The following excerpt from the Graduate Student’s Guide even provides a bit of motivation and interpretation of the rules for economics graduate students at Columbia University in the mid 1950s.
Recently an exam for Gary Becker’s 1965 micro-theory course (already one of the most visited pages in the Economics in the Rear-view Mirror collection) revealed that either the rule for making no-allowance in exams for non-native English speakers was suspended by 1965 or Gary Becker disregarded the rule, allowing non-native speakers extra time for their written examinations.
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Excerpt from Columbia University’s The Graduate Student’s Guide
ECONOMICS
EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Carl S. Shoup, 503 Fayerweather
Office hours:Monday and Wednesday, 10 to 10:30 and 11 to 12. Thursday, 2 to 4
Telephone Extension:2171
DEPARTMENT SECRETARY: Carolyn M. Stedman, 502 Fayerweather
Office hours:Monday through Friday, 9 to 5
Telephone Extension:849
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN BOARD: outside 502 Fayerweather
The following remarks supplement or amplify the description of degree requirements found in two places in the Graduate Faculties Bulletin: on pages 14-18 for the Faculty Requirements and on page 37 for the Departmental Requirements. Have these pages of theBulletin at hand when reading the statement below.
GENERAL
The Department takes the view that each graduate student having his particular intellectual interests and methods of satisfying them, flexibility in the departmental procedures intended to assist him is necessary. Hence, no system of departmental advisers has been set up. During his first registration, the student will find all members of the Department available, at hours posted on the bulletin board, for consultation on his course program. Any member of the Department may sign approval of the student’s program card. If a study of the course offerings in the Bulletindoes not give the entering student a clear enough idea of the particular member of the Department by whom he would prefer to be advised on his program, he may obtain suggestions on this score from the Academic Assistant or Professor Shoup.
In succeeding semesters the student’s developing interests and his growing acquaintance with the members of the Department should enable him to select some one or two faculty members as his chief adviser or advisers.
Although no specified courses are required for either degree, all students in the Department are advised to attend Economics 101-102, the basic course in economic theory, unless they enter the Department with an exceptional background in that subject.
THE MASTER’S DEGREE
Candidates are expected to study the requirements listed in the Graduate Faculties Bulletinand to plan their work in the light of both A. M. and Ph.D. requirements in case they should later decide to work toward the higher degree.
Not less than six months before he desires to receive the degree, the candidate must select his Essay subject, submit it to the appropriate member of the Department, and, after approval, list the subject with the Academic Assistant of the Department. The Essay need not be completed until after the candidate has satisfied the course requirements for the degree.
The selection of a subject of importance within the field of his interests must be made by the student, and the ability to make a proper choice will be regarded as an essential qualification for the degree.
The completed Essay must be submitted for approval not later than four weeks before the date on which copies are to be filed with the Essay and Dissertation Secretary. The candidate should not proceed beyond the preparation of his detailed program of investigation and the completion of a preliminary chapter or section without submitting his work to his supervisor. An Essay is judged by the manner of its presentation and style as well as by its contents and the employment of original material.
Another foreign language may be substituted for French or for German, with the approval of the Executive Officer, if it is particularly useful for the student’s projected research; but another Romance language may not be offered with French. Failure to pass one of the language examinations or the mathematics examination, as the case may be, before registering for more than 30 points, or failure to pass the other examination before registering for more than 45 points, will result in denial of permission to register until the deficiency is removed.
In 1957-1958 the examinations in languages and mathematics will be held on the following days: Thursday, September 19, 1957, from 10 to 12; Friday, January 17, 1958, from 2 to 4; Friday, May 2, 1958, from 2 to 4 (room numbers will be posted outside Room 502 Fayerweather). At least one week before the examination the student must notify the Academic Assistant of the Department of his intention to take it.
Two years of intensive language work in one of Columbia University’s Institutes, with a grade of B or better throughout, are accepted in lieu of passing the regular language examination. Language examinations taken at other universities are not accepted for this requirement.
Foreign students are asked to bear in mind that a command of the English language is assumed, and that English consequently cannot be accepted as a foreign language satisfying the requirement. Nor can allowance be made in any examination, oral or written, for unfamiliarity with English.
THE DOCTORATE
The student must satisfy the Department that he has gained a thorough knowledge of several fields of economics (and, at his option, one field outside economics), to the point where he can demonstrate command of the material in a comprehensive oral examination and can utilize his knowledge in the writing of a doctoral Dissertation. To this end, the Department does not require course examinations of the Ph.D. candidate, nor are particular courses required. Instead, the student must, in addition to meeting the language and proficiency requirements stated in the Bulletin, (a) compete a seminar paper in one of the research courses offered in the Department, and (b) prepare an outline of his dissertation topic.
In practice, the typical Ph.D. candidate does take examinations in a limited number of courses, both to test himself and to build a record on which recommendations for fellowships or employment can be based. Moreover, those doctoral candidates who wish to obtain an A.M. degree en route necessarily take examination in 21 points (seven courses). The student’s decision to earn this degree should be guided by his interests and aims, after consultation with the Executive Officer or other members of the Department. Although the Department approves of a limited amount of examination taking, it asks the doctoral candidate to keep in mind the possible disadvantages of devoting too much time to the preparation for such tests.
Before he registers for more than 45 points, and as soon as possible, the candidate should submit for the Executive Officer’s approval his tentative choice of the three subjects, from the list given in the Graduate Faculties Bulletin, to add to the three required subjects. To ascertain the requirements for obtaining the certifications of proficiency in two of the six subjects, the candidate should, during his first semester, consult those members of the staff in charge of the respective fields. Certification of proficiency is not given for economic theory or for any subject under No. 19 in the Bulletinlist. These subjects may be, and economic theory mustbe, offered only at the oral examination.
The prospective candidate may find it advisable to take Statistics 191-192 and either Economics 153-154 (Economic history of the United States), or Economics 155-156 (Economic history of Europe, 1740-1914), or Economics 151-152 (Economic history of Russia to 1917) during his first year of residence, if he wishes to obtain a certificate of proficiency in statistics, or in one of these three divisions of economic history. No more than one of the three divisions may be offered among the six subjects. The professors in charge of certifying in these divisions are: United States, Professor Goodrich; Europe, Professor Landes (in 1957-1958, Professor Hughes); Russia, Professor Florinsky.
The 6-point research-course requirement cannot be fulfilled by research courses taken in other universities or in other Departments. Students are advised to take a research course in the Department as soon as they have completed 30 points, if not before. The required paper may be written in either of the two semesters of the research course.
Some time before he plans to take the oral examination, the student should select the field in which he intends to write his Dissertation. This field should normally be one of the six chosen for proficiency and oral examination. With the assistance of a member of the Department interested in this field, the candidate should formulate a topic for his Dissertation. As soon as the topic has been approved by the staff member (henceforth the student’s sponsor), the candidate must report to the Academic Assistant the name of the sponsor and the subject of the proposed Dissertation. No change of sponsorship will be recognized unless the candidate notifies the Academic Assistant. Although the Executive Officer may authorize a joint sponsorship, the Dissertation is generally written under a single sponsor.
The candidate is expected to draft a three- or four-page memorandum outlining the proposed Dissertation, indicating also the chief sources to be used, and defending the feasibility of the project. No oral examination will be scheduled until the candidate has deposited with the Academic Assistant his project memorandum, bearing the approval of the sponsor.
Well before the time he expects to apply for the oral examination, the candidate should obtain advice on preparing for this examination from members of the Faculty in charge of the fields he is offering. The oral examination is not an examination on courses, but on subjects (fields).
The formal application for a date for the examination must be made to the Academic Assistant for approval by the Executive Officer. The application will not be received until the requirements discussed above have been met. No exceptions can be made to the rules governing the dates of scheduling the various departmental and faculty examinations.
The reference under No. 19 in the Graduate Faculties Bulletin (page 37) to “any other one subject…approved by the Executive Officer of the Department” may include a subject falling in one of the Departments under the Faculty of Political Science, or in philosophy, or psychology, or in some other discipline dealing with matters relevant to the student’s scholarly interests. A candidate proposing to offer a subject outside the Department of Economics must obtain the approval of the Executive Officer of that other Department in advance. In general, the Department encourages doctoral candidates to devote a part of their efforts to a subject outside the Department.
Candidates for the Ph.D. degree in other Departments who propose to offer a minor in economics at the oral examination must be examined on economic theory and any one other of the subjects listed under Nos. 1-19 in the Bulletin. Such candidates should consult the Executive Officer of the Department of Economics as early as possible.
Candidates in other departments offering a minor in economic history aat the oral examination will be required to show either (a) a knowledge of the economic history of two major regions, or (b) a knowledge of the economic history of one major region and of the field or fields of economics particularly relevant to the subject of the proposed Dissertation.
A few private studies are available in Butler Library for students who are writing their Dissertations in residence; application should be made to the Academic Assistant.
The doctoral candidate may find it advisable to start on a first draft of his Dissertation well before the oral examination, perhaps in one of the research courses. During the writing of his Dissertation, the candidate should not fail to keep in lose touch with his sponsor. Much time will be saved, more assistance will be obtained, and more of the intellectual stimulus that should develop from the writing of a Dissertation will be felt if the candidate remains on or close to the Columbia campus. The candidate is particularly warned against writing a Dissertation in absentia, out of touch with his sponsor, and usually in the unfounded expectation that what he considers his finished draft, suddenly deposited on the desk of the sponsor, will lead speedily to a defense examination and the award of a degree.
If the candidate leaves the campus and makes no progress on his Dissertation, he should in December of each year send an explanatory statement to his sponsor; or, alternatively, notify his sponsor that he has abandoned the project. If the candidate does not apply for an examination in defense of his Dissertation within five years from the time he passed his oral examinations, he will be regarded as having abandoned his Dissertation topic, unless he requests in writing an extension of time and receives written approval of such an extension from his sponsor and the Executive Officer.
The candidate will not be recommended by the Executive Officer for an examination in defense of the Dissertation until the candidate’s sponsor has notified the Academic Assistant that the Dissertation is in acceptable form for final typing.
GRADUATE ECONOMICS SOCIETY
Graduate students will enhance their efficiency in learning and their professional interests by frequent discussion among themselves. For this purpose, the Graduate Economics Society, which meets regularly in Fayerweather Lounge, will be found useful. The officers for 1957-1958 are as follows:
President: Edwin Dean, 419 West 115thStreet, Apt. 52, New York 25.
Vice President: Paul Graeser, 517 Furnald Hall
Secretary-Treasurer: Louise Freeman, 45 East 80thStreet, New York 21.
Telephone: LEhigh 5-6375.
Source: The Graduate Student’s Guide. Columbia University, Bulletin of Information. Series 57, Number 39 (September 28, 1957), pp. 114-119.
Image Source: Butler Library, 1939. Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library blog. April 19, 2018.
