Department website: https://business.wvu.edu/academics/marketing-department/marketing-ph-d
Degree Offered
- Doctor of Philosophy
Nature of the Program
The Ph.D. in Business Administration with a major in Marketing is a full-time, residential program that seeks to prepare students to contribute to the marketing discipline though the discovery, development, and dissemination of knowledge. The goal is to strive for continuous improvement in training world-class researchers and college professors who are able to conduct independent, original academic research and teach university-level courses in their major areas of study.
Academic Standards
The following criteria must be met for a student to remain in good standing:
- Maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average in all graduate courses taken at WVU.*
- Earn no more than two incomplete grades per semester, barring exceptional circumstances in which a deferment is officially granted by the Ph.D. Program Coordinator.
- Resolve any incomplete grade in a timely manner.
- Successfully complete any qualifying/summer papers and/or qualifying exams within the prescribed timeframe.
- Successfully complete a comprehensive exam within four years of starting the program. Failure to pass the comprehensive exam after two attempts will result in dismissal from the program.
- Successfully defend a dissertation proposal within five years of matriculation.
- Successfully defend a dissertation within seven years of matriculation.
- Attend scholarly presentations and interact as part of the community of scholars.
- Perform Graduate Assistantship duties in a satisfactory manner (if applicable).
- Observation of and adherence to the WVU Campus Student Code (https://studentconduct.wvu.edu/files/d/f0ae69b9-1461-45cb-81ee-40e48e2d978b/main-campus-revised-final-student-conduct-code-8-21-15c.pdf).
- Observation of and adherence to WVU’s Academic and Professional Standards (http://catalog.wvu.edu/graduate/enrollmentandregistration/#text).
- Observance of and adherence to the professional standards of the student’s home discipline, as defined by the recognized scholarly organization that governs the progression (as identified by the Program Ph.D. Committee)
*Where this condition is not met, the student will be placed on probation and a remediation plan will be developed by the Ph.D. Program Coordinator. Where the conditions of the remediation plan are not met within the prescribed timeline, the student will be dismissed from the program.
Admissions for 2026-2027
The following will be considered for admission into the program:
- A completed application received by December 1 is required for admission and to be considered for University fellowships. Late applications will be accepted as space is available.
- A master’s degree or equivalent from an accredited university
- A statement of purpose regarding the Ph.D. program describing why the applicant is pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Administration and the applicant's career aspirations upon completion of the degree
- A current résumé
- Two letters of reference
- Official copies of all university transcripts with cumulative GPA scores of 3.0 or better on all undergraduate courses and 3.25 on graduate courses (based on U.S. standard of 4.0)
- An official Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score is preferred; however, in some cases a GRE (Graduate Record Examination) may be accepted. A high GMAT/GRE score is required for admission to the PhD Program in Business Administration.
- The John Chambers College of Business and Economics' TOEFL requirement for Ph.D. in Business Administration applicants is higher than the University's. Students whose first language is not English must obtain a score of at least 100 on the TOEFL-ibt or a score of at least 7.5 on the IELTS test to be admitted to graduate study. Go to www.toefl.org or www.ielts.org to register and find out more about the test. This is a university requirement.
- International applicants who have received a high school diploma or a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in the United States, the United Kingdom, or another predominately English-speaking country usually are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement. However, applicants who only having a master's degree from one of these countries must still provide acceptable TOEFL or IELTS scores.
The entrance requirements are minimum requirements for regular admission. Since there is limited space in each year's class, meeting these entrance requirements does not guarantee admission. Applicants will not be accepted on a provisional basis.
WVU cannot accept scans, uploads, faxes, or unverified photocopies of transcripts as official.
Graduate degree-seeking applicants must send their official transcript from the undergraduate institution that granted the bachelor’s degree. It is preferred that official transcripts be sent via an online, secure service such as eScrip-Safe, National Student Clearinghouse, or Parchment to graduateadmissions@mail.wvu.edu. Alternatively, sealed, untampered, physical official transcripts can be sent to:
WVU Hub
P.O. Box 6004
Morgantown, WV 26506
International Applicants and Express Mail
International applicants and applicants using express mail, use the address below:
WVU Hub
62 Morrill Way - Suite 220
Morgantown, WV 26506
Major Code: 2128
Doctor of Philosophy
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| A program GPA of 3.0 is required by the Chambers College. | ||
| Research Hours | ||
| Research/Dissertation | 36 | |
| Research | ||
| Marketing Content Courses | ||
| MKTG 701 | Foundations of Academic Research and Writing | 1 |
| MKTG 720 | Seminar in Buyer Behavior | 3 |
| MKTG 721 | Special Topics in Marketing | 3 |
| MKTG 731 | Trending Topics in Marketing Research Methods | 2 |
| MKTG 740 | Seminar in Marketing Strategy | 3 |
| Methods and Statistics Courses | ||
| EDUC 652 | Statistical Methods 1 | 3 |
| EDUC 653 | Statistical Methods 2 | 3 |
| EDP 711 | Multivariate Methods 1 | 3 |
| MANG 711 | Research Methods | 3 |
| MANG 713 | Structural Equation Modeling | 3 |
| Statistics/Research Methods Courses | ||
| ECON 725 | Econometrics 1 | 3 |
| EDP 618 | Mixing Research Methodologies | 3 |
| SOC 721 | Qualitative Methods | 3 |
| Qualifying Exam | ||
| Comprehensive Exam | ||
| Dissertation Proposal Defense | ||
| Dissertation Defense | ||
| Total Hours | 72 | |
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| EDUC 652 | 3 | ECON 725 | 3 | Qualifying Exam | |
| MANG 711 | 3 | EDUC 653 | 3 | ||
| MKTG 720 | 3 | MKTG 701 | 1 | ||
| MKTG 731 | 2 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | 0 | |||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| EDP 711 | 3 | EDP 618 | 3 | ||
| MKTG 721 | 3 | MANG 713 | 3 | ||
| SOC 721 | 3 | MKTG 740 | 3 | ||
| 9 | 9 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| MKTG 797 | 9 | MKTG 797 | 9 | ||
| Comprehensive Exam | Dissertation Proposal Defense | ||||
| 9 | 9 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| MKTG 797 | 9 | MKTG 797 | 9 | ||
| Dissertation Defense | |||||
| 9 | 9 | ||||
| Total credit hours: 72 | |||||