PhD in Public Administration

Your program will be decided by you and the graduate adviser and approved by the admissions and program standards committee. The total number of courses will depend on your background. The minimum units required for the PhD degree is 9.0 units of coursework, the candidacy examination (ADMN 693) of 3.0 units and the dissertation (ADMN 699) of 30 units.

PhD students are expected to have mastery of additional language(s) if germane to their chosen fields of study. They will be expected to acquire needed language skills in addition to their PhD coursework. No PhD credit will be given for language training.

The first year of the program is a full-time course of studies. You'll take a minimum of 9.0 units of coursework, a non-credit doctoral seminar and language training if required for dissertation research. Students must be on campus to complete the following coursework, their PhD candidacy examinations, and the oral defence of their dissertation research proposal.

Within two terms of completing course work (normally in November of the second year of study), you will complete one written candidacy examination on the foundational studies and methods/methodologies of public administration. This model assumes a generalist orientation to the exam.

Within three terms of completing coursework, you will develop and submit a dissertation proposal which will be defended in an oral defence.

In all cases, both the written candidacy examination and defence of the dissertation proposal must be completed within 36 months of first registration in the PhD program.

A student who passes the candidacy examination and successfully defends the dissertation proposal is admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.

The program operates year-round. PhD candidates are expected to complete the program, including their dissertation, in five years.

Program overview

The minimum units required for the PhD degree is 9.0 units of coursework, the candidacy examination (ADMN 693) of 3.0 units and the dissertation (ADMN 699) of 30.0 units.

• Minimum course requirements (9.0 units):
  • two core courses in public administration:
    • ADMN 605 (1.5) Public Policy and Governance in Public Administration
    • ADMN 608 (1.5) Innovation, Implementation and Evaluation in Public Administration
  • two methodology courses
    • ADMN 602 (1.5) Research Design and Methods in Public Administration
    • a graduate-level quantitative or qualitative methods or methodologies course with the approval of the graduate adviser (1.5)
  • two elective courses (3.0)
    • The elective courses could be either a substantive specialization or a combination of methods and substantive specialization. Students may take graduate-level courses offered by the School of Public Administration, the Department of Political Science, other UVic departments or other universities with the approval of the graduate adviser.
  • ADMN 600 (0.0) Doctoral Seminar
    • Students must register in this non-credit seminar course for the duration of their PhD program. The doctoral seminar will provide essential knowledge, skills and research proposal development guidance.
• Candidacy
  • ADMN 693 (3.0) Candidacy Examination
    
    
• Dissertation
  • ADMN 699 (30.0) Dissertation
    
    
• Oral examination
  • Students will defend the completed dissertation in an oral examination in accordance with the regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Get the details on tuition and costs on the Graduate Studies site.

The PhD program requires a minimum of 7.5 fee installments. If you complete the program early you must pay any outstanding fee installments in order to graduate. You will incur more fees if you you go beyond the 7.5 fee installments.

The estimates below are approximate as tuition and fees are re-evaluated every year and typically go up by 1-2% in May. This estimate doesn’t include any tuition increases, textbooks, GSS fees or extraeous fees.

• Some courses have all open access reading materials and others require textbooks. We recommend budgeting about $150-$200 CDN per term.
• Graduate Student Society fees (GSS) are approx. $100.00 CDN per term. There is also a health and dental plan that students can opt out of should they already have coverage.

For domestic students, the PhD tuition is approximately $16,500.00.

For international students, the PhD tuition is approximately $21,000.00 CDN. There may be additional or international students. Contact the International Centre for Students for more information.

You may choose to complete the Graduate Certificate in Evaluation (GCE) at the same time as your PhD program.

Courses for the GCE are credited as electives for the degree program and core credit for the certificate program. There is pay a one-time certificate fee in addition to regular PhD tuition, as well as tuition for additional terms of study required to complete both programs.

The current one-time graduate certificate fee for concurrent students is:

• $847.78 (domestic students)
• $1,071.98 (international students)
  Please note: Tuition fees are updated annually

Taking the concurrent PhD and Graduate Certificate in Evaluation programs may extend the time of degree completion, which may result in additional fees per term to complete all requirements. Before applying, or if you have questions regarding the concurrent program, please contact paservice@uvic.ca.