Family and Human Development - Ph.D.

Applications are due by January 15.  

The School of Social and Family Dynamics offers a degree program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree with a major in family and human development. The doctorate in family and human development degree prepares researchers with a focus on family processes, family relationships, and infant, child and adolescent development. The doctoral program is designed for graduates to assume leadership roles as researchers and academicians in universities, or as directors in public or privately funded mental health agencies, industry or government.

Admission: Admission to the doctoral program in family and human development is determined by the following criteria: (1) official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work, (2) verbal, quantitative, and analytical GRE scores (3) statement of goals relevant to the doctoral program (4) three letters of recommendation, (5) resume, and (6) an application for admission to the Graduate College. A Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of at least 600 is required of all applicants whose native language is not English. Deadline is January 15. Admissions for fall semester only.  View more details on admission materials. 

Foreign language requirement: None.

Evaluation and comprehensive examinations: Progress through the program involves: (1) annual evaluations of the student's performance, and (2) comprehensive written examinations at the end of the student's course work.

Dissertation requirements: The doctoral dissertation must be a work of original scholarship, make a significant contribution to knowledge about families, and reflect a mastery of systemic research methods.

Final examinations: A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation is required.

Research activity: Specific areas of faculty research include evaluation of intervention and marital therapy, marital and family relationships, marital interaction, parent-child and parent-adolescent relationships, prevention research on children and families, early intervention for at-risk children, children's social and emotional development, peer relationships, influences on school achievement and success, children's gender-role development, sexuality, dating relationships, and ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in marital and family relationships. Strong emphasis is placed on the acquisition of sophisticated theoretical, methodological and statistical skills necessary to acquire research funding, publish in professional journals, and make significant contributions to existing knowledge.
 

Search for graduate faculty members in the family and human development doctoral program.