Higher Education: Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Education

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements that apply specifically to this program are listed below:

• Statement of purpose (3-5 pages, speaks to reasons for pursuing the degree, including academic and professional goals)
• Writing sample (typically a paper written during Master’s program)
• Applicants are welcome but are not required to come to the School of Education and Human Development for an interview. To schedule an interview or campus visit, please reach out to the contact at the bottom of this page.

Visit our Graduate Admission page for the full admission process.

Coursework

To learn more about specific courses taken as part of the completion of this degree, visit the graduate record website. These webpages represent the official repository for academic program requirements. A link to these publications can be found in the Curriculum Information section at the bottom of this page.

Total hours required 72
Course credit hours required 60

Core (12 credits)

• EDLF 8665 Contemporary Issues in Higher Education
• EDLF 8654 Organization and Governance in Higher Education
• EDLF 8640 Inequality in Higher Education
• EDLF 8662 Politics and Education

Higher Education Electives (12 credits minimum)
Coursework should be distributed between three categories (minimum 1 course per category)

1. Student Experience/Student Development
2. History, Philosophy, and Contexts
3. Governance and Policy 

Research Courses (18 credits required)

Content Minor (minimum 12 credits)
Students may take their content minor courses outside the program and the School of Education and Human Development, or they may choose courses from other School of Education and Human Development programs. The minor is meant to supply the student with substantive knowledge of and a theoretical grounding in an area that might be the topic of the dissertation. Courses to be taken for minor credit must be negotiated with and approved by the student’s advisor.

Dissertation (minimum 12 credits)
EDLF 9999 Doctoral Dissertation (may be repeated for credit)

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship

There is a pressing need to address and eradicate racial injustice from institutions of higher education across the country. The most effective responses to this complex situation are informed by collaboration among scientists, social scientists and humanists. Mutual insights from psychology, sociology, public policy, and higher education are further enriched and deepened through their intersection with the study of anthropology, culture, economics, history, politics and spatial planning. Training researchers across these areas will advance the development of meaningful interventions in the higher education environment, refine our ability to assess these interventions quantitatively and qualitatively, and enhance our opportunity to engage public audiences on this topic. Doctoral students with this background will be better positioned to pursue research careers in academe and a variety of employment sectors.