McKay School of Education > CPSE > Ph.D Program > Program Requirements

PhD Program: Requirements

General Requirements

The PhD program is a full-time, day school program. Prior to the final internship year, students must be available to attend day school classes full time (minimum of 8.5 academic credits per semester). Because of heavy demands involved with these classes, students are not permitted to enroll in more than 15 academic credits per semester without written permission from their advisory committee. To ensure success in their academic course work, the department strongly recommends that students restrict employment commitments to no more than 20 hours per week.

Doctoral students must register for at least two consecutive 6-credit-hour semesters on the BYU campus to fulfill BYU's residency requirements. 

Course Requirements

Students seeking a PhD must complete a minimum of 82 semester hours of academic course work, some of which may be transferred from a master’s program.  Required courses include psychological foundations, quantitative research skills, psychological and educational assessment, counseling psychology core, and religion/psychology integration. Requirements also include 24 semester hours of practicum and clerkship credit, 18 hours of dissertation credit, and 8 hours of pre-doctoral internship credit. With the approval of the student’s advisory committee, up to 36 hours of master's credit may apply toward the total credit-hour requirements. 

The required courses are intended to meet Utah state licensing requirements. Requests for exceptions or alternatives to courses listed on the Course Requirements page of this Website should not be made without careful discussion with the State Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. 

Additional Requiremets/Timing

Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program will complete required courses, comprehensive examinations, a dissertation, and a 2000 hour pre-doctoral internship prior to graduation. All requirements for the PhD, from the first semester of coursework until graduation, must be completed within eight years. Continuous and appropriate progress is required and monitored by the department, and students are notified if their continuation in the program is in jeopardy. Students are responsible for meeting university deadlines and requirements.