The standard time for degree completion ranges from four to five years, including summers, and would generally follow the timetable to the right.

Since the purpose of the Program is to train scholars for careers in research and teaching, the faculty have established requirements to ensure that candidates are thoroughly prepared to meet the highest standards of scholarship.

On the path to the Ph.D., each student must complete the coursework specified in the General Program Requirement as well as that for his or her chosen field. Fulfillment of the General Program Requirement indicates a student has achieved a broad grounding in the basic disciplines relating to the study of management.

Individual fields' course requirements have been designed by field faculty to provide a student with an in-depth mastery of the methodology, theory, and empirical aspects of the chosen field of study.

In addition to coursework, students in each field must engage in research apprenticeships, submit research papers, and take scheduled field examinations.

After completing these requirements, a student becomes a doctoral candidate; admission to candidacy signifies that a student is prepared to focus on researching and writing the dissertation. The dissertation-in-progress is defended in an oral examination prior to the submission of the finished dissertation.