Degree Requirements

All Ph.D. students must complete a minimum of 60 doctoral-level hours for the degree of which 48 hours are coursework, and 12 hours are dissertation.

The 48 hours include:

18 hours of core courses
12 hours of courses in the major
3 hours of dissertation proposal development (ED 7341)
9 hours of required research coursework
6 hours of doctoral level (7000) elective courses.

The student must complete all coursework (including electives) and then defend a dissertation proposal in order to be advanced to candidacy. Successful defense of the dissertation proposal is also counted as successful completion of their comprehensive exam for the program.

Once the student has advanced to candidacy, the student must also complete a minimum of 12 hours of doctoral dissertation credit. In order to graduate, the student must also complete and defend the Ph.D. dissertation.

Download a Course Planning Sheet here.