Doctor of Philosophy in Giftedness, Creativity and Talent Development

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.

Most doctoral students complete a residency of approximately three years. The doctoral program cannot be completed through summer residency only. 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.

A personal statement from the applicant addressing your reasons for applying and your plans for the future (to be uploaded). This document should tell your program's admissions committee everything you would like to reveal in a personal interview. You should include your reasons for undertaking graduate work, your ultimate plans, and how you happened to select your desired field. Details about your preparation, your strengths and weaknesses as a student, any academic honors, scholarships, or fellowships you have received, will all be helpful. You also should consult any website(s) maintained by the graduate program to which you applying, these often list additional components that are of particular interest to that program (i.e. your choice of graduate advisor and a rationale for it). The committee wants to know information about you that cannot be expressed quantitatively.
Three letters of reference from individuals who can address the candidate's potential for success (to be uploaded)
Current resume (to be uploaded)
Unofficial transcript(s) (to be uploaded). Upload transcripts from the school where you received your bachelor's degree and any courses taken beyond regardless of whether a degree was received. Failure to upload transcripts from all educational institutions, regardless of whether or not a degree was received, may be grounds for cancellation of admission. The most common reason for delayed consideration of applications is failure to upload all required transcripts. Please be sure to include all of your unofficial transcripts with your application.
Official GRE scores from test taken within the last five years. (requested from the Educational Testing Service – see below)
Official college transcript(s) must also be mailed to the Graduate School (see address below). You must submit all applicable, official transcripts (undergraduate and graduate). Official transcripts become the property of the University. If you attended an international university and have one set of original documents or diploma, you can mail them to the Graduate School and they will make a copy and return the original document(s) to you. Include a request to return the documents and provide a mailing address. If you submitted these documents when applying for admission to a university in the US which you currently attend, the graduate school will accept copies from the registrar or graduate school if they certify that these documents from your prior university were made from the originals.
Please note: All official transcripts will be required at the time an offer of admission is given. Scanned, faxed or notarized copies will not be considered as official. Your transcript(s) must meet the following criteria:
A cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 for your entire undergraduate career or
A grade-point average of at least 3.0 for your last two undergraduate years or
Exceptional work in your entire final undergraduate career (3.5 or better) or
Graduate work with a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 or better

, you need a minimum overall score of 550 for the paper-based test, or 79 for the Internet-based test. If you submit results from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), you need an average overall band score of at least 6.5. Only the scores from the Academic Module, not the General Training Module, are applicable. If you submit results from the Person Test of English (PTE) we require and overall score of 53.