Rural Sociology Minor

Penn State graduate students have the opportunity to add Rural Sociology as a graduate minor.

MS Students

  • MS students need 6 credits of 500-level (or higher) courses in Rural Sociology. This request must be made at least one semester prior to the semester in which the student intends to graduate.
  • Required coursework for MS students for a Rural Sociology minor:
    • At least 1 course from the following list: RSOC 502, 508, 516, 517, 525, 530, 552, 555
    • Additional coursework to satisfy the 6 credit requirement
  • MS students who use Rural Sociology courses to satisfy requirements for a dual-title program may not count these courses toward the Rural Sociology minor.

PhD Students

  • PhD students need 15 credits of 500-level (or higher) courses in Rural Sociology. This request must be made prior to establishing the doctoral committee and prior to scheduling the comprehensive examination.

  • Required coursework for PhD students for a Rural Sociology minor:

    • RSOC 502, 516, 517 (at least 1)
    • RSOC 513, 514 (at least 1)
    • RSOC 508, 525, 530, 552, 555 (at least 1)
    • Additional coursework to satisfy the 15 credit requirement
  • PhD students who use Rural Sociology courses to satisfy requirements for dual-title programs may petition to count up to 6 Rural Sociology course credits used for the dual-title program toward the minor.

To request approval for a graduate minor in Rural Sociology, contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Brian Thiede (bct11@psu.edu, 814-865-7321).

Requests for approval for a graduate minor should include:

  • Student's purpose for wanting the RSOC minor in terms of contribution to graduate school studies and career plans
  • Current status in program
  • Committee membership (if known)
  • RSOC coursework taken, coursework to be taken to satisfy requirements
  • Timeline for this coursework
  • If petitioning to allow RSOC courses taken to satisfy dual-title program requirements to also count for the Rural Sociology minor, provide justification that coursework and/or research activities will provide foundation for Rural Sociological content

In addition, you will need to complete the Graduate School's form.


For additional information about graduate program minors, please see the Graduate School guidelines.