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The Pennsylvania State University Workforce Education and Development program offers a graduate degree program leading to degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Students interested in this program should be employed in or aspire to be employed as faculty, trainers, administrators, or researchers in education-for-work settings such as business, industry, health fields, occupational home economics, cooperative education, youth apprenticeship, or employment and training.

The PhD degree requires, among other matters:

  • Maintenance of satisfactory scholarship, with a minimum grade-point average of 3.00 for work done at the University;
  • Completion of Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI) requirements
  • Attainment of doctoral candidacy status;
  • High-level competence in the use of the English language, including reading, writing, and speaking;
  • Over some twelve-month period during the interval between admission to the PhD program and completion of the PhD program, enrollment at least two semesters (summer sessions are not included) as a registered full-time student engaged in academic work at the University Park campus;
  • Completion of research requirements, in lieu of typical communication and foreign language requirements for most PhD programs;
  • Completion of the PhD program, including acceptance of the doctoral dissertation, within eight years from the date of attainment of doctoral candidacy status; and
  • Successful completion of a comprehensive examination, acceptance of a dissertation, and completion of a final oral examination for the PhD degree.

Admission Deadline

Requirements of emphases within the PhD program can be found in the Workforce Education and Development Handbook.

To find out what Workforce Education and Development graduate courses are offered and when:
Workforce Education and Development Graduate Course Scheduling Sequence

PhD students are eligible to compete for a limited number of graduate assistantships that may become available to serve the research, teaching, and service missions of the Workforce Education and Development program. The regular graduate faculty for the Workforce Education and Development program consider applications in the light of faculty needs and availability of University funding for graduate assistantships. Applications are due on January 15 for assistantships that could be awarded for the upcoming academic year. Workforce Education and Development Graduate Assistantship Application.

If you are ready to proceed to the application but have NOT read the Graduate School requirements, please visit this website.

If you have read the Graduate School and program requirements and are ready to apply, you may proceed to the application.