As a PhD student at the Schar School, you can study with eminent scholars in a wide variety of fields and conduct groundbreaking research to help you become a subject matter expert in your field and a key authority who influences public debate. Whether you desire to teach and do research at a university, lead a government or nonprofit organization, or craft innovative public policies and programs, we will prepare you to be the leader and academic you want to be.
The Schar School offers three doctoral programs (each available on a part-time or full-time basis):
- PhD in Biodefense
- PhD in Political Science
- PhD in Public Policy
On-Campus Programs
At the Schar School, our hope is to graduate a class of PhD students and who are ready to produce scholarly contributions to the field by way of advancing research, training and think tanks, or teaching. There are enormous opportunities for this PhD community and involvement at the Schar School, so it is the expectation that our PhD students will be fully involved in all the aforementioned opportunities and the community provided to them. Because of these reasons, this program is fully on campus.
Fall 2025 applications for Public Policy, Political Science and Biodefense have closed.
Biodefense Doctoral Program
Political Science Doctoral Program
Public Policy Doctoral Program
Where to submit your materials for all PhD programs
Application materials should be uploaded directly to the application portal in the online application system. Test scores must be official and come directly from the testing center using school code 5827.
For documents that need to be mailed to the university, please use the following address:
Office of Graduate Admissions
4400 University Drive
MSN 4C8
Fairfax, VA 22030
Request information
Office Location:
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall, Fifth Floor
3351 Fairfax Drive, 5th Floor, MS 3B1
Arlington, VA 22201
Contact Information:
Phone: 703-993-8099
Fax: 703-993-4876
Email: schar@gmu.edu