All students are required to meet the general university admission requirements.

Additional Requirements

• Undergraduate and graduate degree from a recognized and accredited institution
• International applicants must provide an Affidavit of Financial Support and documentation of English language proficiency. Detailed information about these issues is provided on the  international students website.

Program-Specific Application Deadlines

• U.S. Applicants
  • For fall semester: January 8 or May 7*

• International Applicants
  • Fall semester: January 8

Additional Documentation

Your application must include the following:

• The “Statement of Objectives” form.
  • • See the security studies application page for details and forms.
    • three letters of recommendation
      • At least two of the three letters should be from those who can speak authoritatively to your potential to succeed in graduate studies in an academic context.
    • GRE Scores:
      • The test scores may not be more than five years old, and they must be sent to Kansas State University directly from ETS (photocopies of scores are not acceptable).
      • There is no code available for Security Studies. Please use the general Kansas State University code (6334) and inform the KSU Graduate School that your scores have been sent to K-State and should be uploaded to your online application in Security Studies.
      • Official reports of Graduate Record of Examination (GRE) test scores are required for the Ph.D. program.
    • An official transcript from each academic institution you have attended (including Kansas State University, if applicable) since high school.
    • A Writing Sample
      • This should be between ten and thirty pages and representative of your best scholarly work. Term papers, thesis chapters, and copies of published articles are all examples of acceptable writing samples.
    • Applicants whose first language is not English must submit an official report of their scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
      • These requirements may be waived for applicants who have earned a degree from a college or university in the United States not more than two years before the time of application.
    • The fee for U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. is $65.00.
    • The fee for international applicants (individuals who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the U.S.) is $75.00.

*The application deadline can be extended to May 7 for domestic applicants who do not require funding to attend.

The security studies doctorate will prepare you for roles in research or teaching or to advance your career in fields such as:

• international affairs
• foreign policymaking
• policy research and analysis
• intelligence analysis
• military services
• homeland security
• law enforcement

A maximum of 30 credit hours may be transferred into the doctoral program. An additional 30 hours will be research hours towards the dissertation.

Required Courses (15 credits)

Historical Research Sequence (6 credits)

• HIST 911 – Historical Approaches to Security (3 credits)
• Hist 912 – Historical Methods in Security Studies (3 credits)

Political Research Sequence (6 credits)

• POLSC 900 – Advanced Research Methods I
• POLSC 901 – Advanced Research Methods II

Final Doctoral-Level Required Course (3 credits)

This course must be taken after completing the history and political science two course research sequences. Each student must complete a directed reading with the chair of the student’s doctoral committee. The course is intended to allow the student to hone his or her dissertation topic in one-on-one consultation with the doctoral chair.

• HIST 985 – Readings in History (1-3 credits)

OR

• POLSC 985 – Readings in Security Studies (1-6 credits)

Additional Coursework (15 credits)

The other fifteen hours of coursework will be elective courses chosen in consultation with the Ph.D. committee to prepare the student for research and teaching in security studies, as well as to help prepare for the Ph.D. exams. These electives may be drawn from History, Political Science, or other disciplines. Courses outside history and political science, or below 700-level, require prior approval of the student's supervisory committee.

The intent of the Ph.D. coursework is to prepare students for writing the dissertation. Upon completion of the Ph.D. coursework students will have the research skills necessary to complete a dissertation-length scholarly study on a well-defined topic developed in consultation with their Ph.D. Chair.

Foreign Language Requirement

There is no fixed language requirement for the security studies Ph.D. program. In some cases, English language skills may be sufficient for completing the degree. In other cases, a student’s research plans may necessitate a deeper knowledge of statistical research methods rather than a foreign language skill. Different projects will ultimately require a different set of skills. Accordingly, each student’s advisory committee will determine what, if any, foreign language requirement may be necessary for the completion of the dissertation project.