July-August 2019

Sociology at
Wake Forest
University
http://sociology.wfu.edu
Sociology at
University of
Wisconsin-
Madison
www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc
Go Online
Photographs by Bryce Richter/UW-Madison
Above and left: Students and faculty of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s sociology
department attend a talk by sociologist Matthew
Desmond (right), author of the Pulitzer-winning book,
“Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.”
Graduates are
going into private
sector jobs with
companies like
Google and
Facebook, as
senior scientists
evaluating the
massive amounts
of data being
collected and
what it means.
engagement. The
sociology class size, for
instance, is capped at
35 students. The tuition
fee is about $55,000
(Rs. 38 lakh
approximately) per
year, plus additional
charges for housing, meals and so on. More than
56 percent of its undergraduate students receive
need-based and merit-based financial assistance.
The university offers a range of grants, scholarships,
work-study and subsidized loans to meet the
financial needs of the students.
Another option for students interested in
sociology is University of Wisconsin-Madison,
which has a long history as a leading research
institution. Its sociology department has about 250
undergraduate majors, about 10 percent of whom
are international students, as well as 120 graduate
students, and nearly 25 percent of them are international.
Graduate studies in sociology at the
university is a Ph.D. program. It does not have a
master’s degree program in this subject.
Many international graduate students return to
their home countries after their studies to join
university faculties. Department Chair James M.
Raymo says that for students with a serious
academic interest in the field, it is very useful to
study in a country with a strong tradition in
sociology.
“It is important to study in a place with a long
history of rigorous research in the discipline. This
lets students return to their countries with an
ability to really understand the subject and
participate in the international arena.”
For undergraduate students, American or
international, who are not residents of Wisconsin,
tuition is about $37,000 (Rs. 25 lakh approximately)
annually. Admissions for graduate studies
are quite competitive, and only about 15 percent of
applicants are accepted. There are no particular
academic requirements, though research
experience, for example at a think tank, increases
the chances of acceptance.
Once accepted into a graduate program in
sociology, or other social sciences at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, students should have no
financial worries. “Unlike law, business or medical
school, we guarantee our students—assuming good
performance—five years of support,” says Raymo.
This includes all tuition payments, social benefits
like health insurance and a living stipend. In
exchange, graduate students work as teaching or
research assistants, typically for 20 hours per week.
Graduate students in sociology choose from
about a dozen specializations, including political
sociology, economic sociology, demography and
ecology, and medical sociology. Students must
write a book-length research thesis to earn their
Ph.D. degrees.
Many of those who earn a Ph.D. degree in
sociology take up jobs as researchers or policy
analysts with government, international
organizations or think tanks. Increasingly, says
Raymo, “graduates are going into private sector
jobs with companies like Google and Facebook, as
senior scientists evaluating the massive amounts of
data being collected and what it means.”
Burton Bollag is a freelance journalist living in
Washington, D.C.
18 JULY/AUGUST 2019