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Center for Demography and Population Health
Master's Degree in Demography

Master's Degree in Demography


GENERAL INFORMATION

The Center for Demography and Population Health at Florida State University offers a program leading to the degree of Master of Science in Demography. The program has been designed for students who wish to specialize in population studies and develop proficiency in the use of demographic concepts, data, and techniques. Emphasis is placed on the development of intellectual and analytical skills useful in a research setting. Students entering the program should have career objectives which will place them in either the private or public sector in mid-level research oriented positions. Examples of employers who have hired graduates of the program are federal, state, and local governmental agencies, marketing research firms, other businesses and independent research institutes.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Candidates for the degree will be required to complete a minimum of 33 semester hours, including a 15 hour demographic core (shown below), 12 hours of graduate-level elective courses approved by the Director and normally selected from the list below, and 6 hours for preparation of the Masters Research Paper (DEM 5972). The Masters Research Paper is often completed in combination with a summer internship.

ADMISSION TO THE PROGRAM

Application must be made online through the Office of Admissions. When applying, you do not need to indicate a specialization or list faculty members to work with, but this information would be helpful if known. All applicants from Florida or from eligible states in the Southeastern Academic Common Market may check the option to be considered for assistantship/fellowship support. International applicants may be eligible for Florida Linkage Institute Out-of-State Tuition Exemption. In order to qualify, the applicants must be from one of the countries where a Florida Linkage Institute has been established.

Admission requirements normally include:

  • A completed undergraduate degree.
  • B average (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) for upper division undergraduate course work OR a GRE score of at least 1000 (combined verbal and quantitative).
  • Two reference letters attesting to your potential to succeed in graduate school.
  • A short statement that describes your career aspirations and why you are interested in Demography.

All applicants MUST take the GRE and have scores sent directly to the Florida State University prior to any final admission decision.

Applicants who have not earned at least one degree from an English speaking University, must also take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and provide an official test score of at least 550.

Deadlines for applying for Admission & Financial Aid

FSU admission deadlines for receipt of all paperwork and application fees are shown in the table below. However, some financial aid may be limited so students are encouraged to begin the application process in January. The Demography program uses official FSU deadlines, but we strongly urge students to contact us and apply early (for instance, by March 1 for Fall Semester admission) to enable maximum consideration for funding.

The final deadlines for applications for admission and supporting documents are:

Application for Admission

 

Desired Term

Application and Document Deadline

Fall

July 1

Spring

November 1

Summer

March 1

 

Financial Aid Process & Deadlines

Information on financial aid is available from the FSU Office of Graduate Studies at http://gradstudies.fsu.edu/ and the Office of Financial Aid at http://www.finaid.fsu.edu.

To apply for federal, state, and institutional aid at Florida State University, students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students are encouraged to apply directly over the Internet by accessing the following Web page:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. The federal financial aid application period for the 2008-2009 year begins January 1, 2008, and ends June 30, 2009. Some federal and institutional grant funds and federal work-study funds are limited, so students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible after January 1, 2008.

Please contact the Demography Program with any questions.

DEMOGRAPHIC CORE COURSES

Course Descriptions

Three Hours- Choose one of:
ECP 5115 Economics of Population or
SYD 5045 Introduction to Demography

Three Hours-
SYD 5135 Demographic Analysis

Three Hours- Choose one of:
GEO 5159 Geographic Information Systems or
URP 5272 Urban & Regional Information Systems
(core courses for options above are normally offered in Fall semesters)

Three Hours- Choose one of:
SYD 5215 Mortality or
SYD 5225 Fertility or
SYD 5235 Mobility

Three Hours- Choose one of:
ECP 5116 Applied Economic Demography or
URP 5261 Forecasting
(core courses for options above are normally offered in Spring semesters)

GRADUATE-LEVEL COURSES FOR DEMOGRAPHERS

ECO 5425 Time Series Analysis
ECP 5115 Economics of Population
ECP 5116 Applied Economic Demography
ECP 5117 Mathematical Demography
ECP 5205 Labor Markets
ECP 5536 Health Economics
ECS 5015 Economic Development
ECS 5028 Economies in Transition
GEO 5157 Advanced Geographic Information Systems
GEO 5159 Geographic Information Systems
GEO 5472 Political Geography
GEO 5545 Economic Geography
GEO 5605 Urban Geography
SYA 5345 Introduction to Research Methods
SYA 5406 Multivariate Analysis
SYA 5407 Advanced Quantitative Methods
SYA 5455 Social Statistics & Data Analysis
SYD 5045 Introduction to Demography
SYD 5105 Population Theory
SYD 5135 Demographic Analysis
SYD 5137 Fundamentals of Epidemiology
SYA 5145 Population Policy
SYD 5215 Mortality
SYD 5225 Fertility
SYD 5235 Mobility
SYD 5425 Urbanization & Population Distribution
URP 5261 Forecasting
URP 5272 Urban & Regional Information Systems
URP 5530 Planning for the Aging
URP 5614 Population & Development Planning

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