Education, Ph.D.

Entrance Requirements

Each applicant must satisfy the regular graduate admission requirements listed for doctoral programs and the following special requirements:

1. Complete at least two full years of successful professional experience in a field appropriately related to the chosen major.
2. Hold a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution in an area appropriately related to the chosen major, and have a 3.3 grade point average or higher in graduate work.
3. Have a Graduate Record Exam score of 1000 or higher, verbal plus quantitative, with a minimum of 400 in each area.
4. Gain recommendation by the graduate faculty of the area of concentration and gain approval of the doctoral admissions committee.

Program Requirements

The standard doctorate graduate regulations apply with the following modifications:

Full-Time Study: Doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) students must complete a twosemester residency consisting of successive semesters, excluding summer, of at least nine credits each semester. The same residency requirement holds for the doctor of education (Ed.D.); however, Ed.D. students have the option of satisfying the residency requirement by completing at least two full-time summer or regular semesters with a minimum of 12 graduate credits for each semester. For the Ed.D., a maximum of three credits of dissertation, independent study or workshop credits may be applied per full-time term. Residency requirements must be satisfied after admission to the doctoral program.

Program: The Ed.D. requires a minimum of 90 semester credits beyond the baccalaureate degree, including 12 credits of dissertation. The Ph.D. program requires a minimum of 96 credits beyond the baccalaureate degree, including 24 credits of dissertation. An Ed.D. program may include up to 30 credits earned for the master’s degree, and a Ph.D. program may include up to 24 credits earned as part of the master’s degree. In addition to these credits earned at the master’s degree level which may be included in doctoral programs of study, a maximum of 16 relevant credits in an accredited post-master’s degree program or licensure program beyond the master’s degree may be applied to approved Ed.D. or Ph.D. program.

A maximum of six graduate credits of S/U grades may apply toward the doctor of education or the doctor of philosophy degree. In preparation for the dissertation, all doctoral students must complete a required sequence of research and statistics courses, including 15-18 hours for the Ed.D. and 21-24 hours for the Ph.D.

Dissertation : The dissertation must involve scholarly and practical consideration of a professional problem. The research should contribute to an improvement in educational practices or to the body of educational theory.

Foreign Language : There is no foreign language requirement.

Fees: All course credits are assessed at the regular fee schedule in effect at the time of registration.