Doctor of Philosophy in Education - Human Development, Learning and Teaching

The PhD in Education combines advances in the social sciences, sciences, arts, and humanities with deep expertise in educational research, policy, and practice to train students for careers as academics, researchers, policymakers, and leaders who will improve educational outcomes in the United States and around the world. Candidates for the PhD in Education are affiliated with one of three concentrations: Culture, Institutions and Society, Education Policy and Program Evaluation, or Human Development, Learning and Teaching. The program's concentrations, curricular requirements, and milestones are structured to achieve four goals: to equip students with domain knowledge in education, to provide training in relevant disciplines, to ensure rigorous training in a range of research methods, and to promote the development of new research and knowledge with a transformative impact on education.

Students in the Human Development, Learning and Teaching (HDLT) concentration study and produce research that focuses on the course and contexts of developmental change and the complex processes of learning and teaching. New advances in the science of learning and development (e.g. integration of biological, cognitive, and social processes, mechanisms through which technological forms alter learning) are transforming the practice of teaching and learning in formal and informal settings. Therefore, whether studying behavioral, cognitive, or social-emotional development in children or the design and development of curricula, instructional methods, and learning technologies to maximize understanding, students will gain a strong background in human development, the science of learning, and contextual mechanisms, including pedagogy, disciplinary knowledge, and sociocultural factors that explain variation in learning and developmental pathways. Work in this concentration is informed by theories and methods from psychology, cognitive science, sociology and linguistics, as well as by related disciplines, such as philosophy, the biological sciences and mathematics, and organizational behavior.

GSAS welcomes applications for admission from individuals who have or will have by the time of matriculation a BA, BS, or equivalent undergraduate degree (for prospective international students, a three- or four-year undergraduate degree from an institution of recognized standing) and actively seeks applicants from groups historically underrepresented in graduate schools.
Applicants who are non-native English speakers and who received their undergraduate degree from an academic institution where English is not the primary language of instruction must prove their English proficiency by earning either a minimum score of 80 on the Internet based test (iBT) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a minimum score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic test.