Population, Health and Place (PhD) at University of Southern California

Programme overview

The PhD in Population, Health and Place combines preventive medicine (health), sociology (population) and the spatial sciences (place). Students complete research projects in their first two years, a qualifying examination by the sixth semester and a dissertation based on original investigation.

Department: Spatial Sciences Institute (with Preventive Medicine and Sociology) | Study mode: full-time | Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States

What you will study

Students take at least 44 substantive units across the three fields in the first three years, two laboratory rotations (4 units) and core courses in biostatistics, demography, epidemiology and spatial sciences, such as Principles of Epidemiology, Demographic Methods, Principles of Spatial Data Analysis and Spatial Modeling with GIS. A minimum of 24 graduate units at USC is required.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

USC Graduate School (all graduate programmes): a bachelor's degree or equivalent from a regionally accredited college or university. International applicants whose first language is not English demonstrate English proficiency; for PhD applicants, ISE-exam exemption scores are TOEFL iBT 100 with no less than 20 on each section (exams taken before 21 January 2026), IELTS Academic 7 with no less than 6 on each band, or PTE 68 with no less than 53 on each band. USC sets no university-wide minimum for admission and some departments set higher requirements.

Requirements published at program group level.

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