Most students enter the doctoral program after completing a master's degree.
The Ph.D. entails 60 semester hours of course work beyond the master's. All doctoral students must complete a total of at least 72 semester hours of graduate work, including general requirements for the master's degree and credit for the dissertation. Certain core requirements must be completed by Ph.D. students if not already taken at the master's level. However, students may need to fulfill prerequisites specific to their specialization areas A limited number of teaching and research assistantships are available. Applications should be made directly to the department chair .