Graduate student Support
- Financial Support
- Counseling and Job Placement
- Facilities and Resources
- Visit Our Department
- Applying to the Program
- Application Requirements for the Ph.D. Program for Students with BA or MA Degrees
- Application Requirements for M.A. Programs
Financial Support
Fellowships, assistantships, and tuition scholarships are available to a limited number of qualified full-time students. In return for assistantships and/or tuition scholarships, students participate in an apprenticeship relationships with individual faculty members and work on specific research projects.
The department also participates in Loyola's innovative Teaching Fellows program. The object of this program is training for teaching excellence at the undergraduate level. In this program, advanced graduate students are given full responsibility for teaching in the undergraduate curriculum under the mentorship of an experienced professor. Fellows attend a special seminar on the integration of university teaching and research. Schmitt and University Fellowships are available for dissertation support.
Applications for assistantships and fellowships may be obtained from the Graduate School and should be submitted along with the application for admission. The deadline for applying for assistantships is February 1. The Graduate Record Exam (required for all applicant) should be taken early in the Fall prior to application to ensure the department receives the scores for consideration for financial support. Although assistants and fellows may be appointed at any time, appointments are usually made in March. Specific assistantship assignments are made at the start of each semester.
Paid and volunteer internships in non-academic settings are also frequently available. The department actively helps students in locating such positions.
Counseling and Job Placement
The Sociology Department has a strong counseling program, giving graduate students the individual attention needed to successfully complete their programs. The department also assists its graduates in searching for appropriate job opportunities. Recent graduates have found positions in university and college teaching; federal, state and local governments; social service and research agencies; and religious and corporate organizations.
Facilities and Resources
Loyola University Chicago has an excellent computing system. Unlimited computing time on both the University's mainframe and personal computers and limited computer time on a supercomputer is available to graduate students for their academic work.
The library includes over 1,000,000 volumes, over 10,000 serial titles, and 1,000,000 micro-films. Students also have access to the collections of over 2000 libraries through interlibrary loan. The Library's public catalogs have been automated to provide access through both terminals in the library and personal computers equipped with a modem.
Graduate housing is available in university owned apartments. Graduate students may also enroll in food contracts that vary from ten to twenty-one meals per week.
A modern recreational gymnasium and track -- the Halas Sports Center at the Lake Shore Campus -- provides handball, basketball, tennis, swimming, dance, and weight facilities.
Visit Our Department
Throughout the year the department sponsors special lectures by distinguished social scientists. Recent lecturers have included Dorothy Smith, Richard Schoenherr, Cheryl Gilkes, Myra Marx Feree, William Foote Whyte, Barbar Katz Rothman, Nancy Ammerman, Howard Becker, Arlene Kaplan Daniels, James Q. Wilson, Ruth Wallace, Elizabeth and Kenneth Boulding, Frances Fox Piven and Francesca Cancian. The department also sponsors several pot luck or informal dinners for faculty and graduate students each year. If you would like to attend one of these special events or a class, please make arrangements with the graduate program director. You are, of course, always welcome to come and talk with the graduate director or other faculty or graduate students.
Applying to the Program
To be admitted to any of the department's degree programs applicants must have demonstrated sufficient past academic achievement to give promise of successfully completing a degree program. In general, this minimally means a grade point average of 3.0 or better in previous work, and scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) exam above the median. The department evaluates the complete portfolio of all applicants rather than depending on any single indicator, and we strongly encourage the submission of writing samples. Sociology-related work experience will also be seriously considered in the overall evaluation of the applicant's potential for graduate work.
Application Requirements for the Ph.D. Program for Students with BA or MA Degrees
Application for the Ph.D. program in sociology are accepted from students with a B.A. or B.S. degree, as well as from students who have already completed the M.A. in either sociology or a related field. Students may apply to Loyola's Ph.D. program on either a full- or part-time basis. Acceptance to the department is based on the criteria and materials listed in the graduate school guide. Applicants with post-baccalaureate training must provide an official copy of their graduate academic transcripts plus a copy of their M.A. thesis or a graduate research paper (or publication).
Application Requirements for M.A. Programs
Applicants for admission to a M.A. program must hold a bachelor's degree, not necessarily in sociology, and should have completed undergraduate courses in Introductory Sociology, Sociological Theory, and Research and Statistics. Students without this background in sociology will be counselled with regard to making up such deficiencies. Applicants should, if possible, include in their application a sample of academic writing (such as a term paper or publication), although this is not required of those applying only for the Master's program.
Application and Further Information
Applications to the department are accepted for the fall semester only.
Completed applications are February 1.
Early application is recommended and, when feasible, so is a visit to the department.