Princeton Profile

• Doctoral Programs
• Master’s Programs
• Interdepartmental Programs
• Joint Degrees
• Dual Degrees
• Exchange Programs

The Graduate School was established in 1900 and, by history and design, it is relatively small and emphasizes Ph.D. programs in the humanities, social and natural sciences, and engineering. Doctoral education focuses on original and independent scholarship, while master’s degree programs prepare candidates for careers in professional practice and public life.

These programs share a number of distinctive and desirable features: a high level of engagement between distinguished faculty and outstanding students, a residential campus environment that fosters a community of scholars, and a depth of financial support that allows concentration on academics. A wide range of interdisciplinary areas complement and enrich these degree-granting programs, which promote intellectual activities and research across departmental and divisional boundaries.

Doctoral students work toward a Ph.D. in one of 41 degree-granting departments and programs. In addition to residing in Princeton for one academic year, doctoral candidates must fulfill departmental requirements, pass a general departmental examination, prepare a doctoral dissertation and present a public oral defense of the dissertation.

The University grants doctoral degrees in the following subjects:

• Anthropology
• Applied and Computational Mathematics
• Applied and Computational Mathematics and Materials
• Architecture
• Art and Archaeology (Chinese Art and Archaeology) (Japanese Art and Archaeology)
• Astrophysical Sciences (Astronomy)
• Astrophysical Sciences (Plasma Physics)
• Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Chemical and Biological Engineering
• Chemistry
• Chemistry and Materials
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Classics
• Comparative Literature
• Computer Science
• Demography
• Demography and Social Policy
• East Asian Studies
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Neuroscience
• Economics
• Economics and Demography
• Electrical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering and Materials
• English
• French and Italian
• Geosciences
• German
• History
• History of Science
• Mathematics
• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Molecular Biology
• Molecular Biology and Neuroscience
• Music (Music Composition)
• Music (Musicology)
• Near Eastern Studies
• Neuroscience
• Operations Research and Financial Engineering
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Politics
• Politics and Social Policy
• Psychology
• Psychology and Neuroscience
• Psychology and Social Policy
• Public and International Affairs (Woodrow Wilson School)
• Public Affairs and Demography
• Quantitative and Computational Biology
• Religion
• Slavic Languages and Literatures
• Sociology
• Sociology and Demography
• Sociology and Social Policy
• Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures

Princeton’s requirements for a master’s degree vary greatly by department. Students may apply to the Graduate School for the following 14 master’s programs:

• Architecture (Master of Architecture)
• Chemical and Biological Engineering (Master of Engineering, Master of Science in Engineering)
• Chemistry (Master of Science)
• Civil and Environmental Engineering (M.Eng., M.S.E.)
• Computer Science (M.S.E.)
• Electrical Engineering (M.Eng.)
• Finance (Master in Finance)
• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (M.Eng., M.S.E.)
• Near Eastern Studies (Master of Arts)
• Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (Master in Public Affairs, Master in Public Policy)

Interdepartmental programs support course work, lectures, seminars and research across departmental boundaries, but do not enroll students or grant degrees. Doctoral students focusing on such areas receive a degree in a cooperating department.

Doctoral work may be concentrated in one of the following 24 interdepartmental programs:

• African American Studies
• African Studies
• Ancient World
• Classical Philosophy
• Demography
• East Asian Studies
• Energy and Environmental Studies
• Environmental Engineering and Water Resources
• Environmental Studies
• Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Hellenic Studies
• Italian Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Linguistics
• Materials
• Media and Modernity
• Medieval Studies
• Near Eastern Studies
• Neuroscience
• Plasma Science and Technology
• Political Economy
• Political Philosophy
• Renaissance Studies
• Social Policy

The Graduate School offers joint degrees in the following areas (students apply to one of the appropriate Ph.D.-granting fields above): demography — Ph.D. in economics and demography, public affairs and demography, and sociology and demography; materials science and engineering — Ph.D. in applied and computational mathematics and materials, chemical engineering and materials, chemistry and materials, electrical engineering and materials, and mechanical and aerospace engineering and materials; neuroscience — Ph.D. in molecular biology and neuroscience, ecology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience, and psychology and neuroscience; and social policy — Ph.D. in politics and social policy, psychology and social policy, sociology and social policy, and demography and social policy.

Princeton partners with other institutions in offering two dual degree programs. The first is the M.D./Ph.D. program with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers-New Brunswick Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Students in the program complete their Ph.D. work in molecular biology at Princeton. The second program is the M.P.A./J.D. program in the Woodrow Wilson School, offered in cooperation with the law schools of Columbia University, New York University, Stanford University and Yale University.

The Graduate School participates in a number of exchange programs that enable students to take courses or conduct dissertation research that cannot be done at Princeton. The programs include exchanges with U.S. institutions, as well as universities in England, France and Germany. In addition, experts from institutions around the world visit Princeton in scholarly exchanges every term.