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2025-2026 Binghamton University Academic Guide
Management, PhD
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Binghamton University’s School of Management STEM-designated doctoral program emphasizes theory and research methodology to prepare students for careers in academia at top-tier institutions. The program boasts an intimate 1:1 student-faculty ratio and is designed for full-time students.
The dynamic PhD curriculum includes courses in advanced quantitative and qualitative research methods. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the non-departmentalized nature of the program and explore disciplines outside the School of Management. Depending on the individual area of specialization, students may elect to take courses in economics, psychology, mathematics, sociology or other disciplines.
Students pursuing a Management PhD must take four semesters of required coursework, in addition to presenting original empirical papers, passing comprehensive/qualifying exams, and defending their research dissertation. Specific coursework and timelines for major milestones vary by specialization. Most students complete their PhD within four years.
Areas of Specialization:
- Finance
- Leadership and Organizational Science
- Management Information Systems
- Marketing
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Admission Requirements
- One official transcript of all prior college work. Typically, applicants should have a GPA of at least 3.2 in undergraduate work and 3.5 in graduate work. The average GPA for those admitted to the program is 3.71.
- Three letters of recommendation from people acquainted with you.
- A resume detailing your educational and work experience.
- A personal statement describing your career goals.
- Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT, preferred) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores. GMAT: Applicants should score in the 80th percentile or above. GRE: Applicants typically need to score in the 90th percentile or above in the quantitative section and in the 80th percentile or above in the verbal and analytical section of the exam. While the GRE is accepted, the GMAT is strongly preferred.
- International applicants - Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score is required unless you have received a degree from a university where English is the medium of instruction. International applicants - Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score is required unless you have received a degree from a university where English is the medium of instruction.
Applicants to the PhD program at SOM are admitted into the regular, full-time, on-campus program starting in Fall. SOM does not offer part-time or other programs. The school offers the PhD in Management degree to all its students. However, students will be admitted to a particular concentration area of study. Each concentration area has a faculty coordinator who operates under the supervision of the SOM PhD Director. Course Requirements
The area coordinator will assist the student in planning the coursework and in understanding the program structure and requirements. Students should seek the area coordinator’s advice regarding their plan of study as well as other aspects of the PhD program and follow their recommendation. The students will take courses in their major and minor (specialization) areas of study. In addition, they have to take courses that develop their research skills, and such courses are often offered through other university departments (e.g., Psychology, Economics, Bioengineering, Systems Science). Each area has varying requirements for each of these three categories. Some areas may have prerequisite qualifications to be completed before joining the program (e.g. CPA exam qualified in Accounting). Background Courses in Management It is desirable that all doctoral students, irrespective of their areas of study, should have a basic understanding of the different management disciplines. Such minimal proficiency is generally satisfied through prior business courses completed in the undergraduate or master’s program. If the doctoral student’s bachelor’s or master’s degree is not in a business-related field, the area coordinator/PhD Director may require the student to audit core business classes in addition to the courses required for the doctoral program of study. First Year Requirements All areas have formal and informal first-year requirements for the students. They include satisfactory progress in courses and towards a first-year research project and/or qualifying exam. The area coordinator will communicate these requirements to the doctoral students and provide written expectations at the beginning of the program. Many areas make a decision about whether a student can continue in the PhD program at the end of Year 1 based on progress made in coursework and on the first-year research project and/or qualifying exam, and all doctoral students should be aware of such expectations. Finance Curriculum
Below are the major milestones students are expected to achieve in order to successfully progress from year-to-year through the program: - Year 1: Pass background qualifying exam and present original paper.
- Year 2: Pass microeconomics field exam and finance qualifying exam (including written exam and journal ready paper).
- Year 3: Successfully defend research dissertation proposal.
- Year 4: Successfully defend research dissertation.
Students must take the following courses: Marketing Curriculum
Below are the major milestones we expect our students to achieve in order to progress from year-to-year through the program: - Year 1: Pass first-year paper.
- Year 2: Pass marketing qualifying exams (major and minor).
- Year 3: Successfully defend research dissertation proposal.
- Year 4: Successfully defend research dissertation.
Students are required to take the following courses: Management Information Systems Curriculum
Below are the major milestones we expect our students to achieve: - Year 1: Present original empirical paper and submit to a conference or journal.
- Year 2: Complete comprehensive exams.
- Year 3: Successfully defend research dissertation proposal.
- Year 4: Successfully defend research dissertation.
Students are required to complete the following courses: Year 2 (Fall, Spring)
- MIS 680B - Impact of Information Systems on Organizations Seminar
- MIS 6XX - Introduction to Machine Learning (Analytics III)
- MIS 6XX - Special Topics in Information Systems
- MGMT 602 - SEMINAR ON PEDAGOGY IN MGMT
- Elective I
- Elective II
- Elective III
Leadership and Organizational Science Curriculum
Below are the major milestones we expect our students to achieve: - Year 1: Pass and present original empirical paper.
- Year 2: Complete required courses.
- Year 3: Complete comprehensive exams and successfully defend research dissertation proposal.
- Year 4: Successfully defend research dissertation.
Students are required to take the following courses: Comprehensive Examination
A major requirement of the SOM PhD program is the comprehensive examination. The exam will be conducted soon after all the required coursework is complete, but commence no later than Fall semester of the third year of study. Some areas will also require passing of the comprehensive examination in a minor area of study. It is expected that the comprehensive examination will have a written component with a possible oral component. The area coordinators should communicate the format, expectations, and grading criteria to the doctoral students. The Graduate School stipulates that a student should be allowed to repeat once one or both parts of the exam. The Comprehensive Examination Committee must make a final determination on the student’s passing of the comprehensive exam before the end of the Spring semester of their third year. Dissertation Expectations
The objective of the SOM’s PhD program is to train doctoral students to conduct independent academic research in their chosen management discipline. A dissertation represents the culmination of the doctoral educational process, and should generally reflect the hallmarks of scientific research in the process of new knowledge creation: substantive literature and/or theoretical review, hypotheses development, collection of data, incorporation of appropriate research methods and analytic tools to test hypotheses, inferences related to analyses, discussion of results within the context of the constructs of interest, presentation of the results, and the incorporation of feedback from colleagues related to presentations. The ultimate goal is to publish findings from the dissertation research in a top journal in the candidate’s field of expertise and the experience gained in the process to lead the student towards a successful academic career. Proposal Defense
The dissertation completion process typically has two steps. First, there is an oral proposal defense. The actual defense of the dissertation happens later. The proposal typically consists of the plan for research. Requirements for a successful proposal defense vary by area and the dissertation chair should guide the student on the requirements for a defense in the student’s area. Dissertation Defense
Students are expected to incorporate the suggestions made at the proposal defense and complete their research before defending their dissertation. The research should be written up following the guidelines of the Graduate School. The dissertation committee has direct charge of all matters pertaining to the dissertation. The student’s dissertation must have the unanimous approval of members of the dissertation committee and of the SOM PhD Program Director to be considered successful in the defense of the dissertation and proceed to the granting of the degree. Additional Information About the Program
Residency and Other Credit Hour Requirements As per the NYS Education Department (8 CRR-NY 52.2), doctoral students are required a minimum of three years of full-time graduate-level study after their baccalaureate degree. The Graduate School also requires that the students complete 24 of the total credit hours necessary for the degree at Binghamton University. Additional credit hour requirements are established by each area of concentration. Area coordinators will communicate the requirements to the doctoral students when planning the program of study. The Graduate School also requires continuous registration, including the semester in which the final degree requirements are completed. Academic Performance Requirements Students are required to maintain academic performance that exceeds the minimum GPA requirement of the Graduate School. The area coordinator, in consultation with appropriate faculty and/or the dissertation committee, judges whether a student has demonstrated adequate progress towards the following academic performance requirements and expectations: - Students achieve a B minus or above in required coursework and classes
- Satisfactory progress towards the First-year requirement
- Successful completion of all required coursework prior to the Fall semester of the third year
- Successful completion of all comprehensive examinations (minor and major) by the end of Spring semester of the third year
- Forming a dissertation committee
- Making adequate progress to defending the dissertation.
The area coordinator, in consultation with appropriate faculty, or the dissertation committee, judges whether a student has demonstrated adequate progress towards these additional academic performance aspects. Students unable to demonstrate such progress will not be allowed to continue in the program. Minimum Grade Requirements SOM requires all doctoral students hold a B average, with no grade in a required class falling below a B minus. In case a student earns a grade in a required course of B minus or below, the student may be permitted to repeat the course with the approval of the PhD Director and the Graduate School. Under such circumstances, the grade received in the second attempt is substituted for the first grade in the computation of the grade-point average. For the purpose of financial loans, the repeated course remains on the transcript as it was part of the student’s academic load. Tuition scholarships do not cover repeated courses. Incomplete Grades Incomplete grades are rarely given for PhD classes. Consistent with the policies and procedures outlined in the Graduate School Manual, incomplete grades are only used in instances in which students have completed the majority of course work successfully, but due to circumstances beyond their control, they have not fully completed the required course work. In practice, this tends to be reserved for extreme events such as health or family emergencies. The appropriateness of and decision to issue an incomplete course grade is at the discretion of the instructor. However, if an incomplete is issued, this should: 1) be done in consultation with the SOM PhD Program Director; 2) have an Incomplete Contract that outlines the timeline and expectation for competition of required course assignments; and 3) must be completed within six months from the last day of classes to make up the incomplete work. For more information on the Management PhD program, please refer to the School of Management website. To apply to the Management PhD program, please visit the University Admissions website. Addendum: Entire page revised, 9/5/2025. |
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