Human Development and Family Studies Admission Requirements

Master’s Program Requirements

• B.S. or B.A. degree with an appropriate background in Human Development and Family Studies or a related field with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.00 or higher.
• If your degree is in a related field, we require a minimum of two courses in human development, one course in family studies and one course in statistics with a grade of 3.0 or higher for all classes.
  • Because our programs are heavily focused on research, additional classes in research methods are beneficial.
• You can still apply if you still need additional coursework, and you can be accepted contingent on successfully completing the required courses.
• For clinical programs, you will need to get some exposure to a clinical environment. Clinical experience means working in some capacity with clinical and/or vulnerable populations.

Ph.D. Program Requirements

You can enter the Applied Developmental Science program with a completed master’s degree or with a completed bachelor’s degree. Based on your coursework and the nature of your degree will determine if you need to fulfill prerequisites before entering the Ph.D. program. It is important to discuss the unique details of your situation with our Graduate Programs Coordinator and your faculty adviser.

• Bachelor’s Degree
  • If you are entering with a bachelor’s, you must earn a master’s in Human Development and Family Studies, with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy or Prevention Science.
• Master’s Degree – Different Subject Area
  • If your master’s degree is in a subject area other than Applied Developmental Science, or a closely related field, you will need to complete the master’s coursework in Human Development and Family Studies.
  • If you did a thesis on a topic appropriate for the Applied Developmental Science program, present your thesis for review. You may be granted partial fulfillment of the master’s degree requirement.
• Master’s in a Closely Related Field – No Thesis
  • If you have completed a master’s in Applied Developmental Science, Human Development and Family Studies, or a closely related field, but have not completed a thesis as part of that program, you will need to complete a first-year project that is comparable to a thesis project as a part of the Ph.D. requirements.
• Master’s in Closely Related Field – With Thesis
  • If you have completed a thesis from a previous program in Applied Developmental Science, or a closely related field, we still need to review your thesis.  Our thesis review committee includes the Applied Developmental Science Director, Assistant Department Head, and your adviser or co-advisers.
  • If your thesis is not accepted, you will need to complete a first-year project comparable to a thesis project as part of our Applied Developmental Science Ph.D. program requirements.

Research Requirement for Thesis Acceptance

If you are entering with a master’s degree and completed a thesis, you will need to satisfy the following criteria:

• Original data collection area of research.
  • We require all our doctoral students to be involved in original data collection efforts as part of your doctoral studies. This data collection does not have to take place in connection with your dissertation research, but it does need to take place during your master’s thesis project to be accepted by the Applied Developmental Science program.  This will fulfill the master’s thesis/first-year project requirement for the Applied Developmental Science program. You need to specify when your data collection occurred or will occur. Ensure your role in data collection is included as part of your research competency examination. This information will play a significant role in determining if you meet the requirements for entrance into the Ph.D. program.
• In-depth analysis of the literature and scholarly writing.
  • We accept three format options for the exam demonstrating your ability to do in-depth literature analysis.
    • Grant application
    • Developmental review article
    • Essay or paper in response to specific examination questions prepared by your committee