Comparative and International Education

The educational objectives for the Ph.D. in Education are the following:

• To advance research on educational inequity issues
• To generate and disseminate original research.
• To prepare students to use original and existing research to transform educational practice.
• To equip future educational researchers with innovative teaching experience and cutting-edge transdisciplinary research experience to become attractive job candidates on the academic market
• To prepare candidates to create a collaborative learning community that integrates all the various educational contexts.
• Prepare candidates to be critical thinkers who focus on leadership, policy, ethics, and social justice.

Requirements for degree completion include 54 credits of coursework, a paper presented at a peer-reviewed conference, a comprehensive examination, a dissertation proposal, and a dissertation. All students in the program will be expected to complete academic core and research courses of 27 credits and concentration courses of 27 credits.

Find the complete PhD Program Handbook (2024) here.

Core courses include:

• ASLP 600 Introduction to Doctoral Studies and Academic Writing
• ASLP 640 Race and Public Policy in Education
• ASLP 642 Equity and Social Justice in Education
• ASLP 620 Introduction to Educational Research
• ASLP 700 Methods of Inquiry
• ASLP 710 Quantitative Research Methods
• ASLP 712 Qualitative Research Methods

Comparative and International Education concentration courses include:

• RDHE 710 Introduction to International, Comparative/Global Education
• RDHE 712 Cross-Cultural Competence and International Education
• RDHE 715 Global Student Mobility Perspectives in Higher Education
• RDHE 727 Legal Aspects of Higher Education
• RDHE 754 Higher Education Politics and Policy Analyses

The department intends to offer the Ph.D. program via two delivery formats: a high residency option with full in-person learning and a low residency program with online synchronous coursework and on-campus residencies in January and July. 

Learn more about Program Delivery options here.

Admission Application Deadlines:

• January 15 - Priority deadline for those seeking graduate student funding
• February 15 - Final deadline to begin an application
• March 1 - Final deadline to submit a complete application

All application materials must be received by this date for consideration

The School of Graduate Studies coordinates the application process. 

• Apply here: www.morgan.edu/apply
• More information for International Students can be found here

To be eligible for admission to the PhD in Education, an applicant must submit an application for admission to the School of Graduate Studies.  Students must select their area of concentration at the time of application.

 The following required documents must be submitted as part of the application:

• Complete official academic transcripts documenting the possession of an earned Master’s degree from an accredited institution;
• Evidence of scholastic ability as demonstrated by achieving a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA) in all graduate study, with a preferred graduate GPA of 3.5;
• An autobiographical statement discussing the candidate’s personal academic and professional plans, research interests and reasons for selecting the Ph.D. in Education at Morgan State University;
• A minimum of two (2) written professional recommendations in support of the application (at least one of which should be from a person with a doctorate who can attest to the applicant’s capacity for successful study at the doctoral level);
• A writing sample or original research paper from their prior graduate program.
• Students for whom instruction has not been in English, must submit results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). 

Selected applicants will participate in an interview process by the Doctoral Admissions Committee

Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements and submitting all the required documents does not guarantee that an offer of admission will be made to the applicant. The decision of the Doctoral Admissions Committee involves a review and analysis of all the elements of the application as well as the availability of positions in the program. The committee then recommends to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies that an offer of admission should be made based on that review.

Visit the Graduate School page to apply today!

Our program offers three types of funding:

• Graduate Research Assistantships
• Graduate Teaching Assistantships
• Tuition Awards

Many of our students also leverage their Tuition Remission benefits from local institutions like the USM schools, JHU, or Morgan State. Tuition Remission is determined and coordinated by your institution. We encourage you to speak with your HR representative about how to use these benefits.