Regional Science is the study of socioeconomic problems with regional or spatial dimensions by means of diverse combinations of analytical and empirical research methods. Among the subjects investigated by regional scientists are regional and urban development, interregional systems networks, economic geography, regional interaction and institutional systems, regional inter-industry analysis and trade, the environment and natural resource use, industrial location, transportation and migration, land use, spatial agglomeration and segregation of activities, and the challenges of spatial data analysis.
Graduates of the Cornell program in Regional Science are positioned for careers as researchers and policy analysts at the highest levels in national governments, academic institutions, corporations, and international organizations. The program provides thorough instruction in spatial, interregional, and location theory within the context of economic, social, and political systems and training in the use of analytical techniques as they relate to policy and public and private decision-making.
The program in Regional Science at Cornell University is recognized as excellent around the world. In the past two decades, Cornell has conferred more than 50 doctorates and 70 master's degrees in Regional Science, with well over half of the degrees awarded to students from outside the United States.
Cornell Ph.Ds in Regional Science have become professors at major academic institutions in the United States such as Arizona State University, Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania, University of West Virginia, and Cornell University. Some are professors at universities in Australia, Japan, Thailand, China, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Norway, and South Korea.
Cornell Regional Science graduates also hold research positions in international organizations such as the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. Many work at the highest policy analysis levels in national governments and corporations.
Program and Degrees
The organization of Cornell's graduate school is based on the concept that scholarship and graduate study are best organized around fields of knowledge rather than in colleges and departments (although faculty membership in many fields and departments overlaps). It is thus possible for graduate students in an interdisciplinary field such as regional science to take courses for which they are qualified in any unit of the University and to choose major and minor areas of study without regard to traditional organizational lines.
In addition to the foundation skills, regional theory, and analytical techniques that will be required of you, you will identify one (for the master's degree) or two (for the doctorate) additional special areas of interest in which to pursue coursework.
