William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration - Ph.D. and Doctoral Study

Ph.D. and Doctoral Study

As a business school with an outstanding history of academic research, the Simon School offers an extensive PhD program with a variety of concentrations. Introduced in 1965, the Simon PhD program offers students an intentionally small, highly-selective academic environment that is anchored by a world-class research faculty. Faculty members edit a number of highly ranked journals that are based at the School, and their research has had a significant effect on a number of areas of business. Interaction between faculty and students is encouraged. Traditionally, Simon faculty members have an open door policy for PhD students.

The most common fields for PhD majors among doctoral students are Accounting, Competitive and Organizational Strategy, Finance, Marketing, Computer and Information Systems, and Operations Management. Regardless of the major, all students start with the first year, called the core building a firm foundation of mathematics, statistics and economics. While the majority of the courses are taken in common by all the incoming students, there is some specialization. This specialization gets more intense in the second year when the students concentrate on their major and minor fields of study.

The School's consistent quality of teaching and research resulted in 58 percent majority of its graduates attaining academic positions in top business schools, with 20 percent getting their first job in a top-10 ranked business school. Overall, Simon has the highest percentage of PhD graduates tenured at the most prestigious business schools in the US.