Penn State University Combined M.S., Ph.D. in Rural Sociology and Demography

The Rural Sociology graduate program participates in the multidisciplinary dual-title graduate programs in Demography. Interested students are able to earn a dual-title master’s and/or doctoral degree in Rural Sociology and Demography.

Dual-title students take additional required courses in demographic theory and methods that fall into four categories: disciplinary survey courses, demographic methods, seminars in demographic processes, and elective courses in population studies.

Faculty in Rural Sociology offer four demography courses intended to provide students with an understanding of theories and substantive demographic issues in the following areas: health and mortality, poverty and inequality, population and development, and children in developing countries. These courses are appropriate for all rural sociology students with substantive interest in these areas, not just dual-title demography students. These courses are also intended to prepare students for comprehensive exams in the demography concentration area.

For more information, please visit the Penn State Department of Agriculture, Environmental, and Regional Economics and Population Research Institute websites.