Due to current budget constraints, the department will not be able to offer funding or graduate assistantships for students admitted for Fall 2026. We hope that funding opportunities may return in the following academic year, but we cannot guarantee this at this time.

The Graduate Program in Sociology is designed for students seeking a Ph.D. degree. However, the M.A. option is available to students who either wish to obtain a master’s degree while continuing in the Ph.D. program, or who leave the program before finishing the PhD. The graduate program is organized into five specialty areas: Demography; Social Movements and the State; Social Psychology; Social Inequality & Mobility; and Gender, Work, and Family.

Typically, about half the students finishing Ph.D. degrees in the Sociology Department work as faculty members at colleges and universities, and about half are working in research, administration, and consulting in federal, state, or private organizations. Our location in the Washington, D.C., area offers an unusual number of full-time research opportunities for our graduates.

Find out more about admissions requirements and our program below. Questions about our program should be directed to gradsoc [at] umd.edu.

Admissions
Program Requirements
Funding Information
Our Faculty
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