Delivery and Attendance
All Strategic Leadership Studies and PSYC (statistics and measurement) courses are delivered face to face at James Madison University*. Some of the MBA courses (620, 617, and 691) offer hybrid sections that are delivered synchronously and asynchronously.
Students must enroll in 9 credits (3 courses) per fall and spring semesters to be considered a full-time student.
Yes! The majority of our students study part-time (taking 1-2 courses per semester) while maintaining full-time careers.
Strategic Leadership Studies and MBA courses meet once a week for 3 hours, beginning no earlier than 4pm. Meeting times for PSYC courses vary.
Finances
The Ph.D. Degree in Strategic Leadership Studies is 66 credit hours total. Visit the University Business Office website for up-to-date tuition rates.
The following web pages have information on scholarships, financial aid, and other funding opportunities:
- JMU's The Graduate School Assistantships Page
- JMU's Financial Aid & Scholarship
- SSLS's Funding Resources & Opportunities
Please forward any other funding and tuition assistance opportunities to Brooke Rhodes at rhodesbm@jmu.edu.
Doctoral assistantship positions are available only to full-time students and are typically awarded with admission to the program. For more information, visit The Graduate School's Assistantships page.
On your application, you may indicate your interest in a doctoral assistantship position. Depending on availability, accepted students may be encouraged to explore and apply for assistantship positions listed on JMU's Jobs website.
Prior Courses
Transfer credits and course waivers are approved on a case by case basis. All course transfers and waivers require approval from the student's advisor, the SSLS program director, and the Graduate School. Course transfer policies are detailed in The Graduate School catalog. SSLS will not accept courses from other master's programs for required SSLS Ph.D. level courses.
Applicants should have completed an undergraduate financial accounting course (COB 241 or equivalent).
The School of Strategic Leadership Studies offers a rigorous, quantitative research degree. Since SSLS accepts students into the program from a variety of professional and educational backgrounds, the program realizes not all admitted students may have taken previous coursework in statistics. New admitted students without previous course work in statistics will be provided information and support to gain prerequisite knowledge in this area. If this situation applies to you, feel free to reach out to the program directly with your questions.
See the SSLS Prospective Student page for more details on prerequisites.
Applying
Applications are accepted from November 1st through March 1st for fall admission consideration.
All applicants are required to submit GRE or GMAT scores. SSLS does not grant waivers for test scores. Applications for the Fall 2023 cycle submitted without GRE/GMAT scores will be considered incomplete.
Updated July 2022.
A resume or CV needs to be uploaded via the online application. Visit the SSLS Admission Requirements webpage for a complete list of application requirements.
The program no longer requires prospective students to meet with the Program Director or a faculty member before applying; however, the admissions committee may request an interview after the initial review of application materials.
Acceptances are generally announced within 30 days of the application deadline.
