Marketing PhD FAQs

Marketing PhD FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Many successful applicants do not have an undergraduate or master's degree in business. Accepted applicants come with a variety of backgrounds: psychology, sociology, engineering, humanities, just to name a few. Many of the required courses do not have business course prerequisites.

The program requires that, at minimum, students demonstrate math proficiency by taking college calculus plus introductory probability and statistics before entering the program. Many students use basic to advanced statistical methods to conduct research for their projects and all students must take doctoral level courses in statistics.

Usually a 3.0 GPA or higher (average about 3.5) and 85 percent or higher on all subtests of the GMAT/GRE test.

Yes, unless you have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree from an institution in an English speaking country.

We guarantee funding for up to five years with satisfactory progress. However, some students meet requirements within four years but elect for a fifth year to strengthen their research record to improve job opportunities.

Program length is an individual decision based on the student's progress and personal considerations.

The vast majority of our students accept faculty positions as university professors. Students have been placed in universities such as:

  • American University
  • Auburn University
  • UC Berkeley
  • City University of Hong Kong
  • Indiana University
  • Loyola University Maryland
  • Monash University
  • Northwestern University
  • Purdue University
  • Queen's University
  • San Diego State University
  • SUNY Stony Brook
  • Texas Tech University
  • University of Delaware
  • University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • University of South Carolina

Transfer credits are approved on a case-by-case basis. Generally courses taken in a professional program (such as an MBA program) will not transfer. Courses at a PhD-level related to required courses may transfer (usually, one-two such courses transfer, but the student still takes the full four-five years to complete the degree).

Regardless of transfer credits, a minimum of 30 UA units must be completed.

No. Realistically, this is a minimum 40 hour per week job that will take 4-5 years to complete.

As with many PhD programs in Research 1 institutions, our students are expected to be apprentices to learn the "research trade," which requires many activities beyond simply taking required courses and completing a doctoral dissertation.

Students are expected to spend time working on research projects in addition to their dissertation. Those with Marketing Department-funded assistantships are expected to work 20 hours per week in addition to their coursework and other research responsibilities.

Please visit our section on funding for information about financial support for admitted students.

Students funded by the Marketing Department are required to spend 20 hours per week during the academic year assisting a Marketing faculty member in research projects or as a teaching assistant. Often, students work on projects with the faculty member that they would have completed in the normal course of their PhD program.

The cost of living in Tucson is close to the national average, which is considerably lower than most major U.S. cities. See the Off-Campus Housing website for additional information for students living off-campus.

In addition, there are many cost of living calculators that will compare your salary at your current location with that required to live in Tucson. View the CNN Money cost of living calculator, for example.

The University of Arizona is located in Tucson in Southwestern Arizona in the unique environment of the Sonoran Desert. Tucson is surrounded by four mountain ranges and is only an hour drive north of Sonora, Mexico and an hour and a half drive south of Phoenix. Tucson offers a wide range of outdoor activities: golfing, biking, hiking, horseback riding, etc. Since the winters are very mild, Tucson is also a winter resort location. It is rare to see a cloudy day in Tucson, it boasts more days of sunshine than anywhere else in the United States.

For more information on Tucson, view the Visit Tucson website.