Doctoral Program

About the Program

The Doctor of Philosophy program was created for outstanding educators who exhibit unusual ability and talent. Applications to the program are evaluated on the basis of their past performance in undergraduate and graduate education, experience, test scores, and career goals. The Doctor of Philosophy program is intended for persons who wish to become researchers, state department consultants, authors, university professors, and creative contributors in the field of education of the gifted and talented and enrichment education. Students accepted into this program are continually involved in research and service projects that focus on problem finding and creative problem solving. Each student's advisor assumes the role of mentor and facilitates the development of professional skills associated with creative productivity within the university community.

Doctoral students are required to complete a residency of approximately three years. The doctoral program cannot be completed through summer residency. Individual programs of study vary and are determined by personal interests, goals, and research ideas. Doctoral students ordinarily include in their plan of study a sequence of courses in research design. These courses help to provide the skills necessary for advanced level research and the preparation of a doctoral dissertation.

Doctoral students are expected to design and complete a dissertation that will be a significant contribution to the body of knowledge relating to this field of special education. Encouragement is given to explore possible dissertation topics early in the program and to integrate as much as possible the course work, internship and teaching experiences, and research responsibilities of the doctoral students.

Additional courses generally taken by doctoral students include:

EPSY 5605:   Quantitative Methods in Research I
EPSY 5607:   Quantitative Methods in Research II
EPSY 5602:   Educational Tests and Measurements
EPSY 5613:   Multivariate Analysis in Educational Research
EPSY 6601:   Methods and Techniques of Educational Research
EPSY 6494:   Doctoral Practicum
GRAD 6999:   Dissertation Preparation
EDCI 6000:   Qualitative Methods of Educational Research
EDCI 6005:   Advanced Methods of Qualitative Research
GRAD 6950:   Doctoral Dissertation Research

Doctoral students are also required to select a related area of specialization outside of our program to broaden their expertise and increase future employment opportunities. All related areas should be selected with individual backgrounds and interests in mind. This decision should be made with the student's advisory committee and related areas should be identified during the first year of the doctoral residency.

Academic advisors

Dr. Sally M. Reis Dr. E. Jean Gubbins Dr. Del Siegle Dr. M. Katherine Gavin Dr. Catherine Little Dr. Tutita Casa

Financial Aid

Types of Financial Aid
Two general types of financial aid are available: (1) aid based on academic merit and (2) aid based on demonstrated financial need.

Awards based on academic merit include:
Graduate Assistantships (for teaching or research), University Predoctoral Fellowships, Dissertation Fellowships, and Summer Fellowships. Application for merit aid should be made directly to the academic department. Continuing University of Connecticut graduate students should apply early in the spring semester. New applicants for admission to the Graduate School should apply as early as possible, and not later than the deadline imposed by the appropriate academic department. (See the Graduate Application form for merit aid deadlines.)

Need-based financial aid includes:
Federal Direct Stafford Loans (FDSL), Federal Work-Study (FWS), and University of Connecticut Tuition Remission Grants. Citizens or permanent residents of the United States apply for need-based financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on the web at www.fafsa.ed.gov each year. UConn's on time deadline each year is March 1 (May 1, for entering graduate students). [Note: International students are not eligible to receive need-based financial aid.]

All need-based financial aid recipients and University funded and merit scholarship recipients must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements, which are based on federal regulations. These requirements include maintenance of an appropriate grade point average (3.00) and satisfactory completion of a percentage (75%) of the number of credit hours attempted in each award year, as well as not exceeding published credit maximums for the student's program plan. A warning is sent to students once they have reached their degree minimums. A complete text of this policy is available at financialaid.uconn.edu/sap.

Assistantships, fellowships and other awards from University sources are used in combination with need-based aid to calculate final financial aid amounts offered either for a semester or an academic year. Additional information regarding need-based financial aid for Graduate students is available from the Office of Student Financial Aid Services at financialaid.uconn.edu/index.php/Gradprocess.

Deadlines
Need-based financial aid deadlines are March 1 each year for continuing graduate students and May 1 for entering University of Connecticut graduate students.

International Students
Before their admission is complete and a student visa can be issued, non-immigrant international students must present documentary evidence of their ability to meet all expenses for at least the first year of study, together with an acceptable plan for financing the remainder of their program. International applicants are not eligible for need-based financial aid.

Grants providing tuition and the general University fee are available to a small number of international students who are sponsored by certain organizations [e.g., ATLAS and LASPAU] recognized by the Graduate School as being devoted to the promotion of advanced education programs and with which the University has a standing agreement.