Navigating the UCLA Political Science PhD Program: A Comprehensive Guide

The Political Science department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), stands as a beacon of academic excellence, fostering an intellectually stimulating community. With a strong national ranking, the department combines outstanding faculty and students, a broad-ranging curriculum oriented toward research, and the vast resources of one of the nation’s great universities. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the UCLA Political Science PhD program, covering its structure, curriculum, requirements, funding opportunities, and application process.

An Overview of the UCLA Political Science Department

UCLA's Political Science Department is a large one, staffed by approximately 45 core faculty. Each year, the department aims for an entering class of about 15 to 20 students, which allows for considerable personal attention to each of the students. Currently, there are about 150 students in residence. The department considers itself a “full service” department. The large and intellectually diverse faculty offers coursework and opportunities for research in all of the major sub-fields of the discipline. In addition, graduate students have found that the curriculum facilitates intensive study in a number of cross-cutting areas - empirical and theoretical, contemporary and historical. Among these interdisciplinary concentrations are political economy, American political development, race and politics, and the philosophical, historical, and literary dimensions of political theory. The department takes special pride in its high national ranking in the discipline and in the shared determination of the faculty to continue to build an exciting intellectual community.

Program Structure and Curriculum

The UCLA Political Science graduate program is devoted only to those who seek the Ph.D. degree. The program emphasizes rigorous academic training and independent research, creating a diverse and intellectually exciting graduate student community. Most doctoral graduates go on to careers in academic institutions, but many have also found challenging employment in the public sector or in private organizations that emphasize research and analytic skills. In the past decade or so, UCLA graduates have obtained tenure-track academic positions at prestigious institutions.

The program requires PS 292A and at least 16 graded courses, including four in each of two major fields, two in a minor field, and six electives. There is also a language/methods requirement which students satisfy by taking whichever is most appropriate to their plan of research. Taken together, the major and minor fields work in tandem to provide breadth of background and depth of focus for crafting sophisticated research projects. The elective courses permit students to tailor their studies to their individual needs and interests. Needless to say, most students pursue significantly more coursework beyond these minimum requirements. Many students take classes outside the department as well. Generally, students satisfy course requirements within the first two years of study.

The curriculum includes courses such as:

Probability and Inference for Social Science
Regression Analysis for Social Science
Causal Inference for Social Science
Maximum Likelihood for Social Science
Experimental Design for Social Science

Course Requirements

A student must successfully complete twelve (48 units) of the sixteen courses required for the doctorate with an average grade of 3.0 or better. These courses should satisfy their major and minor requirements. Students must take Political Science 292A, four courses in each of two major fields, two courses in the student’s minor field, and four additional graded courses, including no more than two independent study courses. These courses must include two two-quarter field seminars, one of which should be in the student’s major field. Fields determine which courses meet major and minor field requirements. With the approval of the graduate adviser (and the Graduate Division for the master’s degree requirements), graduate courses in political science taken elsewhere may be applied toward departmental course requirements. The maximum number of such courses is six if students come to UCLA with a master’s degree in political science and choose to forego another master’s degree from UCLA.

Research Methodology Requirement

Students may satisfy the requirement by completing a sequence of three courses in mathematics, or mathematical economics at or above Mathematics 31A (Mathematics 38A-38B cannot be counted), or by completing a sequence of three courses in statistics at or above the level of Political Science 200A. If research methodology is more useful to the student than a foreign language, the requirement can be met by taking three quantitative methods courses at the P.S. 200B level or above.

Academic Senate Regulations and Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements.

Qualifying Paper Requirement

Students must submit one qualifying paper in order to qualify for advancement to candidacy. This paper is assigned to two or more faculty graders by the Graduate Studies Committee. Papers are graded qualified with distinction, qualified, or not qualified. If a paper is graded “not qualified,” students may submit a revised version or another paper, once only. If a resubmitted research paper is graded “not qualified,” the student is evaluated for academic disqualification by a committee of at least five members drawn mostly from the student’s primary field. The qualifying paper is due by the beginning of the second week of the eighth quarter in the graduate program. Papers are evaluated for knowledge of subject, originality of ideas, and craftsmanship of research. They are also evaluated for conciseness; good papers may vary in length but are not expected to exceed 40 pages, including notes, figures, and tables. Upon releasing the grade of the qualifying paper, the faculty graders provide students with a written assessment of the paper’s strengths and weaknesses. A student may appeal a “not qualified” grade on a research paper submission. Substantive appeals go to the original graders and one or more additional readers. Their decision either reaffirms the original grade or changes the grade. The Graduate Studies Committee only considers appeals that are based on procedural or other concerns and not appeals based on academic quality.

Preliminary Field Exam

Students must pass a written or oral preliminary exam in their major field by the end of their fifth quarter in the graduate program. Preliminary exams are written or oral at the discretion of the field. Currently all fields require written exams except political theory which requires an oral exam.

Read also: UCLA's Political Science Program

University Oral Qualifying Exam

Students may take the University Oral Qualifying Examination (Oral Defense for Advancement to Candidacy) after they have completed their courses, exam, and paper requirements and written a dissertation proposal accepted by their research adviser. Students must take this examination no later than their fifteenth quarter of graduate study, and the examination committee must have the proposal at least two weeks before the examination. The examination committee judges the feasibility and worth of the project and the student’s ability to undertake it.

Advising and Mentorship

Students are assigned a first year adviser when they enter the graduate program and are expected to regularly consult with the adviser. Students may change advisers whenever they wish using a Change of Program Adviser form.

Time to Degree and Academic Disqualification

Normative time to degree for the Ph.D. is not required for all students in the program. A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. Students who receive a “not qualified” grade on a resubmitted research paper, whose grade-point average falls below 3.4 for more than two quarters, who postpone submission or resubmission of the research paper for more than two quarters, who do not pass the qualifying field exam in their major field by the end of their sixth quarter, who fail to complete 12 graded courses by the beginning of the seventh quarter, who fail to take the University Oral Qualifying Examination by the end of the twenty-first quarter, or who fail their oral defense, may be recommended for academic disqualification. Recommendation for academic disqualification evaluations are made by a field evaluation committee of at least five members and are based on the student’s entire record in the graduate program. Final decisions to recommend academic disqualification are made by the Graduate Studies Committee after reviewing the field committee’s recommendation.

Funding Opportunities

The department’s current goal is provide some funding to all entering students. All students who are admitted are considered for department-funded awards and campus-wide fellowship programs for which they are eligible and/or for which they applied. Decisions are made based on merit and need, with merit the primary criterion. The department determines annually what kind of support packages to offer and at what level. An application for department-funded awards (stipend, fees, tuition, and assistantships) is not necessary in order to be considered. Campus-wide awards require an application for consideration and nomination.

Teaching assistants in the department are appointed at 50% time and are expected, on average, to work 20 hours per week during the quarter to carry out their TA responsibilities. Some professors have research funding that allows them to employ research assistants. Graduate students can also explore opportunities with faculty in other departments or research units on campus. There is no central job bulletin board for open research assistant positions. Students employed as TAs at the typical level of 50% time receive fee remissions that cover educational and registration fees as well as mandatory health insurance premiums. Graduate students are allowed to work no more than 50% time on campus, or the equivalent of 20 hours per week. Appointments in academic apprentice personnel titles (TAs, GSRs) cannot exceed 18 quarters of which no more than 12 quarters can be as a TA. The department does not recommend that students work full-time off campus.

Tuition and Fees

California residents pay only in-state registration fees. citizens and permanent residents who are not California residents must pay non-resident tuition in the first year in addition to out-of-state registration fees. However, they can be reclassified as California residents for tuition purposes after the first year and if approved, will no longer be charged nonresident tuition. International students cannot become California residents for tuition purposes and must continue to pay non-resident tuition until they advance to Ph.D. candidacy (i.e., until they have completed all course and program requirements except the dissertation). Thereafter, there will be a 100% reduction of non-resident tuition (but not of registration fees) for a total of three years.

Application Process

The application for Fall 2026 is available as of September 2025. The online application is due on November 15th, 2025. Applicants pursing an advanced degree must take the GRE General Test, offered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The GRE should be taken prior to the program’s application deadline, allowing ETS at least 14 business days to report the scores to admissions. International applicants whose first language is not English must provide certification that they are proficient. Such applicants must submit scores received on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as part of their application. The institution code for UCLA for the GRE is 4837; the department code is 1902. Applicants should carefully plan the timing of their application, including making sure that supporting materials arrive by the November 15h, 2025 deadline. If one letter is missing, the application will be considered incomplete.

The faculty use the writing sample to assess applicants' writing skills, analytical ability, and creativity. There are no prerequisite or specific courses required to apply to the graduate program in Political Science. Applicants should compute their GPA for their junior and senior year, i.e., the last 60 semester units, or the last 90 quarter units, completed in undergraduate status. Use a four-point system (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1). Ignore pluses and minuses, unless the grade points are clearly stated on your transcript. If your school uses another system that cannot be converted to a four-point GPA, leave the GPA boxes blank. This applies to most international institutions.

UCLA does not weigh any part of the individual application nor do they use formulas to make decisions. All applications will be reviewed and rated using their own criteria and standards.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal applicant ranks uniformly high on all indicators (GRE scores, grade point average, recommendations from faculty, stature of undergraduate institution, the quality of written work, and the persuasiveness of the statement of purpose) and shows exceptional promise of success in the program and as a future political scientist.

Additional Information

The graduate program requires full-time enrollment, which constitutes at least three courses or 12 units per quarter. UCLA's highly selective graduate program is devoted only to persons who seek the Ph.D. degree. They are seeking those who aspire to careers in research and university-level teaching. Students must complete the M.A. as part of the requirements for the Ph.D.

Applicants may petition to apply a maximum of 6 courses from their previous program to the course requirements. The petition, accompanied by transcripts and syllabi, is reviewed by faculty in the department. If you receive approval for six courses, the number of course you must take will be reduced.

The research interests and publications by the faculty, as listed on the UCLA web site, will give applicants an idea which specialties are well represented in the department.

Housing

Entering students may be given priority for spaces in the Weyburn Terrace Housing Complex. The department has a limited number of guaranteed spaces each year and can nominate entering student for them. After the first two years, most graduate students move to off-campus rentals within 5-7 miles from campus. UCLA also has other off-campus apartment complexes for single students and students with families for which graduate students can apply on a first-come, first-served basis.

tags: #UCLA #political #science #PhD #program #requirements