FOUNDATION COURSES (9-12 credit hours)
EPSY 602 Educational Psychology (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 673 Learning Theories (3 credit hrs.)
At least one of the following:
EPSY 646 Issues in Child and Adolescent Development (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 647 Life Span Development (3 credit hrs.)

SPECIALIZED COURSES (12-18 credit hours)
At least two of the following learning sciences courses:
EPSY 606 Motivation and Learning (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 634 Educational Neuroscience (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 648 Intelligence and Creativity (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 689 Developmental Neurobiology of Learning (3 credit hrs.)
At least two of the following developmental sciences courses:
EPSY 671 Interpersonal Relationships (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 632 Social and Emotional Development and Interventions (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 689 Temperament, Behavior Problems, and Psychopathology (3 credit hrs.)

RESEARCH COURSES (minimum 21 credit hours-advanced courses may be substituted)
EPSY 622 Measurement and Evaluation in Education (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 635 Educational Statistics (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 636 Techniques of Research (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 625 Advanced Psychometric Theory (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 640 Experimental Design in Education I (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 641 Experimental Design in Education II (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 633 Qualitative Research Design and Data Collection (3 credit hrs.)

DISSERTATION RESEARCH (minimum 12 credit hours)
EPSY 691 Dissertation Research Hours (variable credits)

ADDITIONAL ELECTIVE COURSEWORK (1 or more credit hours)
Courses both within and outside of EPSY (including additional courses in educational psychology or research) may count toward elective coursework. Students should consult with their advisor or program committee to identify appropriate electives.

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• The Developmental Sciences Specialization requires a minimum of 64 credits beyond a master’s degree to earn a Ph.D. (The minimum is 96 credits for those without a master’s degree.)
• Core course requirements may be waived for students who have successfully comparable graduate coursework and/or demonstrate requisite knowledge and skills.

If you are considering applying to our Developmental Science Doctoral degree program, consider gathering information about yourself and about the program.

Gather information about yourself

• Your career goals. This degree program is geared for students who wish to become professors or researchers in the field of developmental sciences (e.g., developmental psychology, human development, educational psychology). In this program, you will develop content knowledge expertise in developmental theories and methodologies, and conduct research studies to test research questions related to your research interests.
• Your previous academic experiences and current skill set. This program is a good match for you if you have had previous experience working in the field of and/or have relevant research experiences that could foster an interest in studying developmental science, such as psychology, human development, and education. Our program is also a good match if your research interests align with the research focus of one or more of our program faculty.
• Your expectations. In this program, you will take courses on broad educational psychology topics, learning theory, and more specific program courses on development at various life stages in various domains. You will also take courses that will enable you to conduct research, analyze and write up results from research studies, and develop statistical analysis skills.
• The timing of your application. We have one application cycle for this program in the fall. The best time for you to apply is when you are ready to make a commitment to pursue doctoral-level training in the field of developmental science through coursework and active engagement in the research process.

Gather information about our programs

• Consider potential doctoral advisors. The doctoral advisor is essential for guiding doctoral students through the many milestones that occur throughout the degree program (e.g., thesis, preliminary exam, dissertation). Doctoral advisors usually accept one or two students a year who have overlapping research interests with their own. These advisors serve as mentors throughout students’ doctoral training and provide advice as they develop their content knowledge, research interests, and research methodology skills.We strongly encourage you to take into account your own research interests when you are searching for faculty members in our program to work with. Contact the faculty member with whom you have overlapping research interests to see if they are taking on new doctoral students for the academic year you plan to apply for. You can find our faculty in the “Faculty” section of this website. Faculty members may have listed whether they are recruiting students for the next academic year in their profiles.
• Consider the coursework you will take. Take a look at the coursework we offer in the “Program Details” section of this website. A Ph.D. is a research degree, and a large part of the curriculum for this degree is focused on developing research skills.
• Follow us on social media: You can take a look at our ongoing activities and learn more about what we do on our social media platforms. We have a Learning Sciences Facebook page and a Learning Sciences Twitter account.
• Ask remaining questions. If you have additional questions about the program, you can contact the academic advisor for graduate students. The academic advisor can help answer additional questions you may have about the degree and credit information, admissions deadlines, required application materials, and coursework for the degree program.

APPLICATION MATERIALS
All materials (except for TOEFL/IELTS scores) will be uploaded directly to the GraduateCAS Grad application. Additional information about materials can be found in our Departmental Admissions requirements page for our Doctoral degree programs. 

• Individually prepared materials
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Resume/CV
• Recommendation letters submitted on your behalf
  • Three letters of recommendation
• Transcripts and standardized test scores
  • Make sure you have enough time to have the official transcripts from prior degrees sent to you before the application deadline. You cannot be considered for acceptance into the program until an official transcript is on file with Texas A&M University.
    • Official transcripts and records from all colleges and universities attended (excluding community colleges; minimum 3.0 GPA recommended)
    • International students from non-English speaking countries only: Official TOEFL scores (or IELTS scores)
    • The GRE is not required for this program.
• Application fee
  • Domestic applicants: $89 non-refundable fee
  • International applicants: $114 non-refundable fee

 PREPARING A STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR THIS PROGRAM

Your statement of purpose should include not only your inspiration for pursuing a doctoral degree; it should also highlight your past training, research, and applied experiences in relevant fields. In addition, you should also state your career goals and plans for this doctoral training, such as your areas of research interests, which faculty mentor(s) you are interested in working with, and the expertise and experiences you would like to develop/gain from this program. Finally, if you are applying to multiple programs across universities, each program you apply to will be different. Remember to customize your statement of purpose for each program. This allows you to better illustrate how each specific program will be useful and help you meet your career goals.

• Preparing your personal statement for graduate school applications: https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2016/09/graduate-school-applications

PREPARING A RESUME/CV FOR THIS PROGRAM

In general, your CV should highlight your past academic and professional experiences relevant to the program you are applying to. This could include (but not limited to) your education background, past research training and achievement, past teaching experience and certification, and applied work/volunteer experience (e.g., experience working with youth and families as a counselor, social worker, program developer, etc).

• Build a better CV: https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2015/01/curriculum-vitae

PREPARING REFERENCES TO WRITE LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS PROGRAM

Letters of recommendations should be from professors, course instructors, or research mentors. Letters should not be from family or friends.

• The art of the letter: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/letter-recommendation

GENERAL TIPS

• Preparing and Applying for Graduate School in Psychology: https://www.apa.org/education-career/grad/application-video-series

Click the APPLY button below to get started.