Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare

Berkeley Social Welfare's doctoral program is designed to inspire independence and originality of thought in pursuit of knowledge. Students design and pursue an individualized program of work tailored to their intellectual interests and aligned with specialized research areas of faculty mentors and supervisors from the School of Social Welfare and additional distinguished departments across the Berkeley campus. A minimum of three years is necessary to complete the program (two years of full-time course work and one year for the dissertation) although most students require a longer period. In Social Welfare, it is expected that all doctoral students will complete the PhD degree within 10 semesters, having taken the Qualifying Exam by the end of the 3rd year and filed the dissertation by the end of the 5th year.

Berkeley Social Welfare prefers applicants who hold a master's degree in social work or social welfare, or have comparable preparation in a closely related field, and who show evidence of intellectual and other qualifications essential to successful doctoral study. Applicants must possess the intellectual qualifications essential to successful performance in the program, and in reviewing applications we seek to determine whether the applicant's particular objectives can be met in our doctoral program at Berkeley. Have a bachelor's degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution. Have a master's degree in social work or social welfare, or comparable preparation in a closely related field. Have a satisfactory scholastic average, generally a minimum grade-point average of B or better (3.0 on a 4-point scale) in all graduate and upper-division (typically the first 60 semester units or 90 quarter units) undergraduate coursework. Demonstrate evidence of intellectual and other qualifications essential to successful performance in the doctoral program, including scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) , a satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale, and enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field. Graduates of recognized academic institutions outside the United States should hold a degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree. Equivalency is determined by International Evaluators in the Graduate Admissions Office. Request required transcripts, Write your personal statement, For purposes of admission, your most recent Toefl scores must be at least 90 for the Internet-based test (IBT), and 570 for the paper-based format (PBT). Ielts - Your most recent overall Band score must be at least 7 on a 9-point scale. All applicants to doctoral study are evaluated on 1) academic background and preparation as reflected in the undergraduate and graduate GPAs, transcripts, and scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), 2) research and teaching potential, as reflected in the statement of purpose, curriculum vita, examples of scholarly written work, and letters of recommendation, and 3) appropriate fit of research interests and career goals with Berkeley Social Welfare faculty research areas and PhD program goals.