Course Requirements

The student must complete a total of 90 credit hours, including dissertation and research internship. Candidates for the PhD degree may be granted up to 30 hours of graduate credit from other institutions as follows:

• Of  the 30 graduate transfer credit hours counted toward the PhD degree in social work, 15 of these credits must be in an area  directly related to research (e.g., research methods, statistics, a mentored research project, etc.).
• Of these 15 research-related credit hours, at least 6 credits must have been completed within three calendar years prior to the date the student enrolls in his/her first doctoral class following acceptance into the PhD program.
• All 15 research transfer credits must have been successfully completed as prerequisites for the two advanced research methods courses (S 726 and S 737), the Research Internship (S 725), and the advanced statistics course (S 728).
• Any or all of the 15 research transfer credits may be taken prior to acceptance into the PhD program and in addition to the 9 credit hours associated with the Pre-Doc Option.
• All students must have successfully completed a graduate-level statistics course within three calendar years prior to enrolling in the required advanced statistics course. Students who have completed a statistics course more than three years prior to enrolling in the advanced statistics course may petition the director of the PhD program to test out of this requirement.
• Any research transfer credits not completed prior to acceptance into the PhD program must be completed as part of the student’s doctoral studies in accordance with the above provisions.
• Foundation research courses offered by the program include S 718, S 721, and S 790.

• professional social work component    (33 cr.)     
• specialization component    (18 cr.)
• research component    (21 cr.)
• research internship    (6 cr.)
• dissertation    (12 cr.)

All students in the PhD program, with the approval of the program director, will select 3 faculty members to serve as their academic advisors throughout their doctoral studies, one of whom will represent the student’s area of specialization outside the School of Social Work.

Qualifying Examination Process

The qualifying examination process is comprehensive and integrative in nature. Specific guidelines for the completion of the qualifying process are available from the PhD Program Director. Admission to Candidacy following the passing of the qualification examination and the completion of all course work, the student’s advisory committee will submit a Nomination to Candidacy Form to the University Graduate School. Upon approval of the Dean, the student will be admitted to candidacy and awarded a Certificate of Candidacy.

Research Proposal

After nomination to candidacy, the student, with the approval of the Program Director, will select a research committee of no fewer than four faculty members, including one member outside of the School of Social Work. This committee must approve the proposed dissertation topic.

Final Examination

The final examination is the oral defense of the dissertation.