The Ph.D. in Management program consists of courses and a doctoral dissertation. The first two years of the program are designed so that the student can complete the Ph.D. course work, the comprehensive exam, and the oral qualifying exam. The amount of time required to complete the dissertation varies according to the individual research project.

The Ph.D. in Management program has three levels:

1. Course work
2. Candidate status
3. Researcher status

The first level, Ph.D. course work, culminates in a written comprehensive examination. After the comprehensive exam, the student conducts a literature review and orally presents a sketch of his or her dissertation methods to the department faculty. When a student successfully completes this oral qualifying exam, he or she is advanced to Ph.D. Candidate status and pays 50% of tuition. When a dissertation proposal is accepted, the student is advanced to Ph.D. Researcher status and pays 25% of tuition. The Ph.D. Researcher must complete an oral defense of the dissertation; the dissertation committee, Graduate School Director, and Library Director must approve the dissertation. For details of these procedures, please see the Dissertation Manual.