The minimum number of graduate hours in a Ph.D. program is 125 graduate hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. Course work includes counseling core courses, a minor or focus area, elective courses, practicum and internship, extensive research and statistics, passing written and oral doctoral comprehensive exams, and successfully planning and defending the doctoral dissertation. Nine hundred (900) hours of practicum and internship done in a school, clinical mental health, rehabilitation, or student affairs setting is required. Doctoral students are also expected to deliver at least one presentation at a regional, national, or international conference.
The course work from the master's degree is acknowledged as preparation for doctoral studies. This doctoral program is built on specialty course work and experiences in school, clinical mental health, rehabilitation, and student affairs settings. If a student is missing any course work that is normally completed as part of a CACREP-approved master's degree in the above program areas, the missing course work may be incorporated into doctoral studies. Doctoral students are required to maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA in coursework. No graded work below a C is acceptable towards the requirements for the degree. Doctoral students are also required to have good computer word processing and writing skills before entering the program.
| Counseling Core Coursework (Research and Education Core) | 19 Hours |
| COE 8063: Research Techniques in Counseling (or master's equivalent) EPY 8214: Advanced Educational/ Psychological Statistics (Prerequisite: EPY 6214) EPY 9213: Advanced Analysis in Educational Research EPY 9263: Applied Research Seminar HED 8133: University and Community College Instruction |
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| One additional statistics/research course such as | |
| EDF 9443: Single-Subject Design in Education or EDF 9453: Qualitative Techniques in Educational Research or HI 8923: Historiography and Historical Method OR Other approved graduate course in Research or Statistics |
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| Doctoral Counseling Core and Dissertation Research | 38 Hours |
| COE 9013: Counseling Supervision COE 9023: Advanced Counseling Theory COE 9033: Advanced Seminar Research COE 9043: Advanced Group Work and Systems COE 9053: Advanced Multicultural Counseling COE 9083: Advanced Assessment Techniques in Counseling COE 9000: Dissertation / Research |
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| Clinical Coursework | 9 hours |
| COE 9740: Advanced Doctoral Practicum (300 hours) COE 9750: Doctoral Internship (600 hours) |
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| Elective Coursework (Courses such as the following) | 3-15 hours |
| EPY 8223: Psychological Foundations of Education EDF 9313: Philosophy of Education HED 8123: University and Community College Governance |
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| Minor or Focus Area: (12 hours) | |
| Minor | 12 hours |
| Course work for a minor may come from any academic department in the university offering graduate coursework. Any complementary set of courses with a prefix different from the major area of program emphasis may comprise a minor area. A minor may be outside the College of Education. For example, Ph.D. students in Counseling will typically select a minor in such areas as Psychology, Sociology, Gerontology, Gifted Education, Public Policies, Technology Education, School Psychology, Educational Psychology, or Women's Studies. For additional information on minor coursework, please refer to the Graduate School Bulletin which can be found at: http://catalog.msstate.edu/graduate/ or the Counseling Programs Graduate Student Handbook which can be found at: http://cep.msstate.edu/forms/ | |
| Focus Area | 12 hours |
| Counseling is a broad field. Counselors benefit from the endeavors of many other professionals with different training and backgrounds. Focus area requirements are designed to give students the opportunity to benefit from a broad array of theory, practice, and research in fields related to counseling. A focus area option provides an opportunity for an individual to present to the department knowledge gained in other fields of study. Course work for a focus area may come from any academic field of study if the field will benefit the student as a counselor educator, supervisor, researcher, or practitioner. For additional information on focus area requirements, please refer to the Graduate School Bulletin which can be found at: http://catalog.msstate.edu/graduate/ or the Counseling Programs Graduate Student Handbook which can be found at: http://cep.msstate.edu/forms/ | |