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HIED Doctoral Program Curriculum

HIED Program Curriculum

A Breakdown of Required Credits1

Ph.D.D.Ed.
Core 12 12
Specialization (HIED) 9 9
Theoretical/Conceptual 9 9
Methodological 18 12
Proposal 3 3
Total (pre-dissertation credits) 51 45
Dissertation Credits Not Accumulated 15
TOTAL N/A 60*

*The Graduate School requires D.Ed. candidates to take 90 credits toward the doctorate. Students possessing a master’s degree will be granted advanced standing (usually 30 credits) toward the 90 total credits required. If a student does not have a master’s degree or is not granted advanced standing, he or she must complete additional coursework.

Required Core Courses (12 credits total)

HIED 501 – Foundations of Higher Education
HIED 502 – Equity and Diversity in Higher Education
HIED 552 – Administration and Organization in Higher Education
HIED 556 – Higher Education Students and Clientele

Required Methodological Courses2

A quantitative course (e.g. EDPSY 406; STAT 500).
A qualitative course (e.g. HIED 586)

Completing the Ph.D. and D.Ed. Degrees: The particular responsibilities and preferences of doctoral students will undoubtedly shape their decisions such as how long it will take to complete the degree, how many courses to take any particular semester, and when to take any particular course.  We recommend, however, that full-time UP doctoral students consider the timeline below for completing the required core courses (as well as the proposal course) in the doctoral program:

Fall - Year 1Spring - Year 1Fall - Year 3
HIED 501: Foundations of Higher Education HIED 552: Administration and Organization in Higher Education HIED 594: Research Topics (Proposal Course)
HIED 556: College Students HIED 502: Equity and Diversity in Higher Education
1Students cannot double-count a course such that an individual course counts toward the requirements for multiple categories. In addition, previous coursework cannot be counted towards the 51-credit requirement for the Ph.D.
2This is to say that among a total of 18 and 12 methodological credits that are required for Ph.D. and D.Ed. doctoral students respectively, at least one course (3 credits) must be a quantitative course, and at least one course (3 credits) must be a qualitative course.