Degree and Certificate Programs

Doctoral Degrees in Education

Requirements for Doctoral Programs
Requirements for Doctoral Programs
General Information

There are two configurations for doctoral programs in education at Indiana University: a 90 credit hour post-bachelor's Ph.D. or Ed.D. program (the "90 credit hour program"), and a 60 credit hour post-master's Ed.D. program (the "60 credit hour program"). At present, the 60 credit hour program is available in curriculum and instruction, higher education, and educational leadership.

For the 90 credit hour program, credit hours earned in master's or specialist degree programs may be included in the doctoral program, as long as they meet course currency requirements and are relevant to the student's doctoral areas of focus. Sixty (60) credit hours (including 12 dissertation credit hours) in the 90 credit hour program must be taken at the Bloomington or Indianapolis campus of Indiana University.

For the 60 credit hour program, a master's degree is a prerequisite for admission. Master's course work may not be counted toward the 60 required credit hours, but graduate course work beyond the master's degree may be, as long as it meets requirements for currency and relevance. In this program, 42 credit hours must be taken at IUB or IUPUI.

All course work, except dissertation and internship credits, must be completed within seven years of matriculation in the 90 credit hour program, and within five years in the 60 credit hour program. If there is a two-year lapse in enrollment, the student's program will be terminated, and the student must apply for readmission to the program. See the section titled Policies Governing Graduate Programs for regulations governing all graduate programs in the School of Education, including course revalidation, residency, GPA requirements, transfer of credit, and semester load.

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Advisory Committee and Program of Studies

During the first semester in the program, each doctoral student will be advised by the program head or department chair, or will be assigned a temporary faculty advisor. Before the end of the first year in the program, each student must submit in writing to the Office of Graduate Studies a form that lists the formally appointed advisory committee and the student's program of studies.

The advisory committee consists of at least three faculty members. Two must be from the major area of study and one from the minor area. The committee chair, who becomes the student's primary advisor, must be a regular faculty member in the major area of specialization. For interdisciplinary minors, the minor representative must be from outside the major. At least two of the faculty members on each doctoral advisory committee must be regular faculty members; one may be an adjunct or part-time faculty member. For Ph.D. advisory committees, two members, including the chair, must be members of the University Graduate School faculty.

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Program of Studies

Program requirements fall into several component categories, which are explained below. The student and the advisory committee chair play the primary roles in planning the program of studies. An advisory committee meeting is required, at which time all committee members review the program of studies for approval. The program of studies must then be approved by the department chair and the associate dean for graduate studies. If a completed program of studies form is not submitted within one year of matriculation, enrollment will be discontinued. See the section titled Policies Governing Graduate Programs for information about the transfer of credit hours from other colleges and universities. All doctoral program forms are available online.

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Inquiry Emphasis in Doctoral Training

Doctoral students are expected to generate questions about educational phenomena. They must be curious about how things are and how they became as they are. They must learn to identify assumptions made in posing questions and in drawing conclusions, as well as to judge the consistency and logic of arguments. They are required to question their own assumptions about what is right and what is wrong in educational practice. They must learn to evaluate educational programs and to inquire into the effects and effectiveness of educational practices. They must come to view the world from multiple perspectives in understanding the nature of reality. They must learn to generate hypotheses about educational phenomena and about relationships among educational variables, and to speculate about causal relationships. In addition, they must learn to test these hypotheses in a trustworthy manner. As such, inquiry training is to be included in all components of doctoral training.

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Program of Studies Components

INQUIRY CORE

90 Credit Hour Program

This component requires a minimum of 9 credit hours. Many doctoral programs in the school require 12 or 15 credit hours of inquiry core course work. The inquiry core includes a survey course in research methodologies (e.g., Y520) and beginning courses in statistics, measurement, program evaluation, or in ethnographic, qualitative, quantitative, and historical research methods. Inquiry core courses are to lay a rudimentary methodological foundation for applied inquiry courses in the major, and for dissertation research. A list of approved inquiry core courses is available at the Office of Graduate Studies website.

60 Credit Hour Program

This component requires a minimum of 9 credit hours of inquiry core course work.

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MAJOR

90 Credit Hour Program

A major consisting of a minimum of 36 credit hours of course work in the selected field of specialization is required. There is substantial flexibility in the major. Courses from related areas of study may be included in the major component if their relevance to the major can be demonstrated and if committee approval can be secured.

In addition to the inquiry core course work, 6 credit hours of inquiry course work are required in the major. One of these inquiry courses must be an early inquiry experience, during which a student carries out an actual research project, including the collection and analysis of data to answer a research question, and the writing of a research manuscript. This research is to be prior to the dissertation and not a direct part of the dissertation research. The early inquiry experience may be implemented through an independent study course (e.g., a 590 course), through a master's thesis (a 599 course), or through a departmental research seminar. Each student must carry out an independent research project. The research manuscript that results from this study must be read and approved by the student's advisory committee. A form for this purpose is available online at the Office of Graduate Studies website.

The second of the two major area inquiry courses is an inquiry linkage course. This is a course in which research relevant to the major field of specialization is studied. Such study, however, focuses more on the research design and methodology of research in the major area than on the findings of the research. Analyzing and critiquing the research methodology are of primary importance in this experience. Each department has a research seminar or a specialized research methodology course for this purpose. The inquiry core courses normally should be completed prior to taking inquiry courses in the major.

60 Credit Hour Program

The major must con­sist of a minimum of 27 credit hours, of which 3 credit hours are to be in an inquiry linkage course. (No early inquiry experience course is required in the 60 credit hour program.)

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MINOR

90 Credit Hour Program

The minor requires minimum of 12 credit hours of course work taken in an area of studies outside of the major. The minor must complement the major. The committee member representing the minor field must approve the selection of courses in the minor area. An interdepartmental (interdisciplinary) minor is also possible. In this case the student must submit a written description of the theme of the minor, an explanation of the contribution of each course to that theme, and a rationale for the selection of the minor representative.

60 Credit Hour Program

The minor requirement is 9 credit hours.

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ELECTIVES

90 Credit Hour Program

The electives category is designated to allow students freedom in course selection. This is also the place to put foundations courses. Each program area has specified courses in foundations, substantive core perspective, or other areas outside the major and minor, which are required for breadth. Courses that may fall into this category are those needed to meet the doctoral program requirement for 27 credit hours outside of the major program area. (This ordinarily includes the 12 credit hours of minor course work, and the 9 or more credit hours of inquiry core courses.)

60 Credit Hour Program

The electives requirement is 6 credit hours.

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DISSERTATION

90 Credit Hour Program

The dissertation (799) requires 12 credit hours. In addition, 3 credit hours of dissertation proposal preparation are required. Each doctoral program area has a 795 Dissertation Proposal Preparation course, which is generally used for this purpose, either on an individual basis or as a departmental seminar.

60 Credit Hour Program

The dissertation requires 6 credit hours of 799 and 3 credit hours of 795. The focus of the dissertation in the 60 credit hour program is on data collection and analysis for the purpose of answering practical questions in the field. Descriptive research, program evaluation, needs assessment, case study, campus audit, and survey research are examples of the kinds of research studies expected.

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Additional program information can be found at the Office of Graduate Studies.