The Doctor of Philosophy degree is awarded to candidates who have completed an approved program in their program area and meet departmental and Graduate College requirements for the degree. This must include:
- At least 96 hours of graduate work
- Statistical Methods I and II or approved equivalent quantitative course sequence
- Core courses within program area
- Distribution courses in at least 2 other program areas
- Minor courses – 4 courses
- Seminar courses – 2 courses
- Teaching experience
- A master’s thesis or equivalent
- Satisfactory performance on a doctoral qualifying examination
- Satisfactory performance on an oral preliminary examination
- Completion of an acceptable PhD thesis and satisfactory performance on an oral examination in defense of that thesis.
More complete information regarding degree requirements can be found in the Psychology Department Handbook for Doctoral Students.
This web page is only for informational purposes. Official program requirements should be obtained from the Graduate Studies Office, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820.
PhD Concentrations
In addition to the main curriculum of instruction, the PhD program offers concentrations to facilitate further specialized training in select topic areas. Information regarding available areas of concentration can be found by visiting the concentrations listings page linked below.