Human Development and Family Studies, Ph.D.

About the Human Development and Family Studies Doctoral Program

Students in the Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Studies program also complete the master’s program requirements. In recognition of the methodological and statistical sophistication of the field, they take three additional quantitative statistics courses and a qualitative methods course. In recognition of a likely future career as college faculty, they spend two semesters in a college teaching practicum. Students are also required to (1) take the lead on a research project prior to becoming a doctoral candidate and (2) complete a dissertation with at least 12 hours of dissertation research. About half of the hours in the doctoral program (39 of 84 hours) are electives, allowing students to define their own area of specialization. At least nine courses must be related to their specialization, and as many as five courses may be taken outside of the HDFS department. Up to 30 transfer hours may be applied toward doctoral program requirements upon approval of the student’s committee and the Graduate School.

Noteworthy features of many graduate students’ degree programs include the following:

• Practicum – All doctoral students register for teaching practicum (HDFS 5101 ), the successful completion of which is required before doctoral students can teach for HDFS. Teaching practicum provides strong mentorship to emerging instructors.
• CFLE – The graduate program provides the majority of the core competencies required for Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) Cross-Cultural Studies minor.
• Women’s Studies (certificate or minor).