Before being admitted to the doctoral program, the prospective student must first meet the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School. Applicants to the doctoral program must hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

In all cases, admission to graduate degree programs in psychology is competitive, since available facilities and faculty do not permit admission of all qualified applicants. The components of an application to the doctoral program are as follows:

1. Graduate Record Examination. Applicants must submit scores for the quantitative, verbal, and analytical/written sections of the GRE.
2. Transcript(s) showing academic prerequisites. 
   • Applicants holding the master’s degree must have an overall grade point average of at least 3.40 on graduate work, exclusive of practicum and thesis grades.
   • For students applying with a completed non-thesis master’s degree, completion of the thesis will be required prior to admission to doctoral candidacy.
3. Recommendations/references. The doctoral applicant is required to submit three satisfactory recommendations on forms provided by the Graduate School, including one from the last employer, if it was a professional experience, and one from the last institution attended.  Two of the individuals must hold doctorates.
4. Psychology Statement of Goals. All prospective students must address the following: (a) their specific research goals, (b) which of our faculty members they would prefer as research advisors, based on their research interests, and (c) their professional aspirations.

The department reserves the right to deny entrance to an applicant who, in the judgment of a duly constituted departmental committee, appears unlikely to succeed professionally, or whose goals are inconsistent with the orientation of the degree program, regardless of any other qualifications.

Prior to entering the program, each student should select which of two curriculum tracks to take. Each of the tracks (Educational and Experimental) includes its own set of courses (with some overlap) but all students, regardless of track, will need to complete a larger set of core courses. These are described below.

Note: For those entering the program without a Masters degree and thesis accepted by the Department of Psychology, & Special Education, at least 90 semester hours (sh) are required overall: Cognate area - 18 sh, Thesis - 6 sh, & Electives - 6 sh.  For those with an accepted Masters thesis, at least 60 semester hours are required overall.  At least 45 semester hours must be from TAMU-C.  At least 51% of TAMU-C courses (excluding 718) must be taken face-to-face in Commerce.  No course beyond the master's program that is over ten years old at the time the doctoral degree is conferred can be used toward the doctoral degree.

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology (90 semester hours)

Core 12 semester hours (4 courses)
PSY 505	Intro to Educational Psycholog	3
PSY 509	History & Systems of Psychology	3
PSY 545	Developmental Psychology	3
PSY 620	Intro to Human Cognition	3
Choose one of two tracks: (Experimental Track or Educational Track)
Experimental Track 21 semester hours (7 courses)
PSY 511	Cognitive Science	3
PSY 515	Neuro/Bio Bases of Behavi	3
PSY 594	Ethical Issues in Organization	3
PSY 621	Advanced Cognition	3
PSY 622	Research Design: Introduction to Theses and Dissertations	3
PSY 625	Cognition & Instruction I	3
PSY 627	Social Cognition	3
Educational Track - 21 semester hours (7 courses)
PSY 514	Theories of Human Learnng	3
PSY 594	Ethical Issues in Organization	3
PSY 622	Research Design: Introduction to Theses and Dissertations	3
PSY 625	Cognition & Instruction I	3
PSY 626	Cognition/Instruction II	3
PSY 645	Introduction to Learning Technology	3
PSY 679	Program Evaluation	3
Doctoral Tools (Five research methods/statistics courses required by Office of Graduate Studies)
PSY 695	Research Methodology	3
PSY 612	Psy Ed Statistics	3
PSY 681	Intermediate Statistics	3
Choose two of the following:
PSY 610	Nonparametric Statistics	3
PSY 670	Multivariate Analysis	3
PSY 671	Advanced Tests & Measurements	3
PSY 602	Applied Regression Analysis	3
Thesis (6 semester hours)
PSY 518	Thesis (6 semester hours required)	3-6
Dissertation 12 semester hours required for 718 (only 12 semester hours count)
PSY 718	Doctoral Dissertation	3-12
Electives 6 semester hours from the following:
PSY 502	Theories of Personality	3
PSY 503	Psychopathology and Diagnosis	3
PSY 507	Pharmaco-therapy	3
PSY 508	Theory/Technique Applied Psy	3
PSY 517	Intro to Hum-Comp Inter Design	3
PSY 527	GLB/Social/Cltural Bases Behav	3
PSY 539	Forensic Psychology	3
PSY 572	Psychological Assessment and Measurement	3
PSY 573	Intellectual Assessment I	3
PSY 575	Personality Assessment II	3
PSY 576	Psychological Assessment of Children & Adolescents	3
PSY 593	Health Psychology	3
PSY 598	Psychology of Gerontology	3
PSY 618	Group Dynamics	3
PSY 640	Evolutionary Psychology	3
PSY 661	Org Change and Improvement	3
PSY 672	Cultural Iss & Diversity	3
PSY 675	Advanced Topics in Educational Psychology	3
PSY 680	Professional Development	3
PSY 689	Independent Study	1-4
PSY 697	Special Topic	1-9
Cognate 18 semester hours outside of track (select from disciplines below)
Excluding 518, 595, 718 & any Doctoral Research Tools.
PSY, BSC, CED, CSCI, BLED, ECE, EDCI, ELED, RDG, SED, EDAD, ETEC, HIED, HHPH, HHPK, HHPS, ENG, FLL, MKT, BA, MGT, MATH, PSCI, COUN, SPED, SWK, CJ, & SOC.		18
Total Hours		90

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology (60 semester hours)

Core 12 semester hours (4 courses)
PSY 505	Intro to Educational Psycholog	3
PSY 509	History & Systems of Psychology	3
PSY 545	Developmental Psychology	3
PSY 620	Intro to Human Cognition	3
Choose one of two tracks: (Experimental Track or Educational Track)
Experimental Track - 21 semester hours (7 courses)
PSY 511	Cognitive Science	3
PSY 515	Neuro/Bio Bases of Behavi	3
PSY 594	Ethical Issues in Organization	3
PSY 621	Advanced Cognition	3
PSY 622	Research Design: Introduction to Theses and Dissertations	3
PSY 625	Cognition & Instruction I	3
PSY 627	Social Cognition	3
Educational Track - 21 semester hours (7 courses)
PSY 514	Theories of Human Learnng	3
PSY 594	Ethical Issues in Organization	3
PSY 622	Research Design: Introduction to Theses and Dissertations	3
PSY 625	Cognition & Instruction I	3
PSY 626	Cognition/Instruction II	3
PSY 645	Introduction to Learning Technology	3
PSY 679	Program Evaluation	3
Doctoral Tools (Five research methods/statistics courses required by Office of Graduate Studies)
PSY 695	Research Methodology	3
PSY 612	Psy Ed Statistics	3
PSY 681	Intermediate Statistics	3
Choose two of the following:
PSY 610	Nonparametric Statistics	3
PSY 670	Multivariate Analysis	3
PSY 671	Advanced Tests & Measurements	3
PSY 602	Applied Regression Analysis	3
Dissertation 12 hours required for 718 (only 12 count)
PSY 718	Doctoral Dissertation (Must be enrolled in 718 continuously every term while working on dissertation)	3-12
Total Hours		60

Note:  Successful completion of the Comprehensive Exam is required of all students.

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