PhD Program

Former President & CEO of the Food Bank for New York City: “I was already working at the Food Bank when I applied to Columbia’s doctoral program. I felt strongly that a PhD would help me strengthen the Food Bank’s work. That instinct proved to be accurate.”

President, Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Public Policy: “My PhD is in social policy analysis. I eventually found my niche on Capitol Hill, where I had the opportunity to create the Congressional Social Work Caucus, and now there’s an institute to complement the caucus’s work. We strive to bring social work research to bear on federal policymaking.”

Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago: “The most valuable aspect of my doctoral training at Columbia was the mentoring and hands-on research experience that I received working with Dr. Nabila El-Bassel and the whole Social Intervention Group team. Working with these top-notch researchers gave me a vast array of valuable experiences, including developing research designs and protocols, conducting pilot studies in real-world environments, and learning how to do grant-writing, all in the context of working within an interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners. At the same time, SIG nurtured the passion that was driving my doctoral research: the need for making socially just changes in our criminal justice system.”

Current doctoral student, Social Policy and Policy Analysis track: “The best feature of doing my doctoral research at the Columbia School of Social Work has been the incredible mentoring and research training I have received. Where else would you have the chance to collaborate with the top scholar in your field and have that work highlighted in the media, in policy advocacy materials by various non-profits and multinational organizations, and published in a peer-reviewed journal even before you graduate?”