Founded in 1959 to address issues in U.S. policy related to human needs and disenfranchised populations, the Heller doctoral program brings the same commitment to social justice to today's policy challenges.

The Ph.D. program at the Heller School prepares students to help advance social policy through leading roles in government, academia, and the non-profit and private sectors. The program supports a collegial and intellectually vibrant community that thrives on rigorous research, collaboration and support, and diverse ideas. Students come from many backgrounds and bring varied experiences, but all share a passionate commitment to using their knowledge to advance social justice.

The program uses a multidisciplinary approach to social policy research that hones conceptual, analytical, qualitative, and quantitative skills. Students can tailor their course of study to their research interests by specializing in one of three broad concentrations.

A pioneering institution, the Heller School's nationally recognized faculty and scholarship have long influenced legislation and social and public policy. Graduates go on to successful careers in research, consulting, teaching, and administration.

If you are ready to learn how to apply a multidisciplinary research perspective to understand how governments, private organizations, and markets shape the well-being of people, join our community of scholars.

Students usually come to the Heller School with direct experience in managing or providing health and human services. In government policy roles or in private organizations, they have seen firsthand the effects that breakdowns in social policy can have on individuals, and they share Heller's belief that greater insight, gained through rigorous research, can lead to improved policies. The Heller doctoral program is designed to channel that commitment by providing students with access to theoretical frameworks in the social sciences that can help make sense of what they have observed, and methodological tools they can use to attack critical real-world questions. After two years of course work, students apply the knowledge they have gained to develop and carry out independent dissertation research that makes a contribution to policy-related scholarship.

Four Institutes

As a student, you'll choose to concentrate on one of three policy areas. Each of these areas is represented by a corresponding Heller institute focused on domestic policy, which will be your intellectual home during your time at Heller. Students participate in a dissertation seminar for their area of concentration from the beginning, and gain in-depth knowledge of an area of policy through courses led by their concentration faculty.

The Institutes provide opportunities to work collegially with faculty and research staff on grant-funded research projects. Students concerned with health services delivery and policy affiliate with the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy, which include the Institute on Healthcare Systems and the Institute for Behavioral Health, as Health and Behavioral Health concentrators; the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy is home to students focusing on those populations; and students concentrating in Assets and Inequalities will work with faculty of the Institute on Assets and Social Policy to understand the distribution of economic and human capital.

Program Core

Research design, research methods, and research experience form the core of our program with good reason. Many Heller graduates pursue social policy research careers in academia, private organizations, or government. They continue to expand society's knowledge of the causes and consequences of social problems, as well as develop solutions to those problems.

A Heller research education can also be used as a platform for applying the research of others in policy-making, practice, or advocacy. Those who build on the Heller foundation in this way are able to take a critical view of research findings, assemble powerful support to formulate persuasive, research-based arguments, and ground their thinking in a broad-based approach to the policy enterprise. All our graduates benefit from the full experience of conducting independent scholarly research in their chosen areas.

Characteristics of Successful Applicants

To be considered for acceptance, you must show commitment to health and human services policy issues and a capacity to develop the conceptual, analytical, and quantitative skills central to advanced graduate work in social policy research. But there are exceptions -- we do accept highly motivated candidates with limited professional background who have a strong academic record and a demonstrated commitment to the field of social policy. The admissions committee looks for evidence of clear writing and thinking, and expects basic preparation in economics and statistics. Although most students have a master's degree, it is not required.

Approximately 15 full-time students matriculate each fall. Although the Ph.D. program is designed primarily for full-time study, two or three part-time students enroll annually.