Admission to the doctoral program is reserved for students who demonstrate exceptional promise in economics. Students pursue the Ph.D. for various reasons, including a desire to make research contributions to the discipline and to teach economics at the college level.
The program is nationally recognized for its dual focus on training research economists and college teachers. No other program provides more individualized mentoring to help students develop as research economists and college teachers. Students develop research skills early on through an integrative research experience. A cornerstone of this experience is the department's weekly research seminar, in which students write critical reviews and referee reports on the papers presented, act as discussants, and present their own research.
Students can also earn the Cognate in College Teaching, which is a separate certificate program that includes coursework and mentoring in teaching economics. Paul's dual-focus Ph.D. has a superior record of student publications and placement into tenure-track assistant professor positions. Some of our graduates also pursue a non-academic career.
The program begins with an August term in which ECON 825 Mathematical Economics is taught in a concentrated manner over two or three weeks prior to the beginning of the Fall semester.
Cognate in College Teaching
The Ph.D. degree in economics from UNH is a research degree that provides students with a deep understanding of economic theory, institutions, and empirical analysis. Most graduates of the program move into faculty positions at other institutions of higher learning where teaching is an important component of their responsibilities.
In conjunction with the Graduate School's Teaching Excellence Program, the department has developed a nationally known program that provides formal training in pedagogy for students whose career goals include teaching at the college level. This program, called the Cognate in College Teaching, is an option that Ph.D. students may select in addition to the requirements of the doctoral degree (discussed above). The Cognate is a 13-credit program and is awarded, upon satisfaction of all requirements, concurrently with the Ph.D. The Cognate can only be awarded in conjunction with the Ph.D. and none of the course requirements of the Cognate can be substituted for those of the Ph.D.
To enter the program, a student must formally apply to the Graduate Dean after at least one year of full-time graduate studies in economics. Admission to the Cognate is decided by the graduate dean, based upon recommendations of the Economics Graduate Program Coordinator and the Teaching Excellence Program Director.

