Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Foundations and Research

Admission Requirements

Students with an interest in Education and a master’s degree in any field  are eligible for admission to the Ph.D. program.

The applicant must meet the School of Graduate Studies’ current minimum general admission requirements as published in the graduate catalog.

International students should be aware that the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota may not recognize master’s degrees from institutions outside of the United States or Canada. Students must satisfy the School of Graduate Studies’ English Language Proficiency requirements as published in the graduate catalog.

Application materials should include:

  1. Transcripts showing a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
  2. Transcripts showing a graduate degree from an accredited college or university
  3. Graduate GPA of 3.5 and above
  4. Three letters of reference
  5. An essay that responds to questions provided in the application
  6. A resume and a writing sample of 10-15 pages (separate from #5 above). Your writing sample should demonstrate the best of your intellectual abilities and/or creative work.
  7. Optional: scores from the GRE exam, the Advanced GRE, or the Miller’s Analogy Test.

Degree Requirements

Students seeking the Doctor of Philosophy degree must satisfy all general requirements set forth by the School of Graduate Studies for the Ph.D., as well as the following:

  1. A minimum of 90 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree
  2. With approval of a student’s advisor and Dissertation Committee, 30 credits from a master’s degree may be transferred in from an accredited institution to be applied to the doctoral program of study, which should include 9 credit hours in Social Science coursework and 6 credit hours in introductory research coursework.
  3. Maintenance of a minimum of 3.0 GPA
  4. The following course requirements:

Multi-Disciplinary and Contextualizing Frameworks (12 credits minimum)

In consultation with your advisor, you will choose a combination of EFR courses and Independent Readings courses to provide a foundation in the social-sciences, humanistic, and critical traditions. These courses provide the foundational grounding in diverse multi-disciplinary perspectives and the synthesis of conceptual and theoretical frameworks to understand complex social processes and dynamics.

Applied Research Methods (12 credits minimum)

In consultation with your advisor, you will choose a combination of EFR research courses to provide extensive understanding and experiences in diverse applied research methods, designs, and products to address complex social problems.

Scholarly Writing (3 credits)

T&L 543 Scholarly Writing

Applied Education Research Internship (3-6 credits)

Taken in the first year, EFR 584 Internship in Education Research, provides students with opportunity to collaborate with faculty on a shared research project.

Independent Research (6-9 credits)

Taken after the applied internship and after the student has completed a majority of their coursework, EFR 592 Individual Research in Education provides students with faculty oversight and mentorship for a research project unique to the student and driven by student research interests.

Electives (6 credits)

Dissertation Credits (minimum of 9 credits)