Program Requirements
Complete 69 credits from 21 courses including five required core courses, three elective core courses, five concentration courses, four advanced electives, two research seminars, and two dissertation seminars.
Concentration: Students must choose a concentration from disability studies; gerontology; human rights; non-profit management; transnational, cultural, and community studies; or individual plan of study.
Capstone: Completion of a master’s project consisting of a 7,000 to 8,000 word writing project (research paper, policy analysis project, program development project, grant application, or self-directed paper) and a public oral or poster presentation of the writing project.
Doctoral candidacy: Successful completion of a written and oral comprehensive examination of content related to the core courses in the program.
Dissertation: Compose and defend a dissertation based on original research
Second language proficiency: Each PhD student must achieve a certain level of proficiency in a language other than their native language. American Sign Language (ASL) can be used as a second language.
Students will be awarded a Master of Arts degree upon completion of 69 credits for the program in addition to the PhD.
GPA: A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required from all courses applied toward the program.
Residency: No more than six credits of graduate coursework from another institution may be applied toward the program. Transfer courses must have a grade of B or higher and be approved by the graduate program director.
Statute of limitations: Eight years.