PhD in Child Development & Early Education

Program Features

• 
  48 credit hours post-master’s*
• Tracks in Child Development or Early Childhood Education
• Courses meet once a week in the evening or in mixed formats that could be in person or online, determined by the professor (e.g., five Fridays in person + 30% online)
• All courses take place on TWU’s Denton campus
• Small class sizes
• Qualifying exam after completion of coursework
• Dissertation required
• Knowledgeable and supportive faculty with expertise in child development, early childhood education, child life and developmental psychology

*Individual requirements may vary

Program Information

The PhD in child development & early education covers advanced content in child growth, development and early education, with options to study specific age groups from infancy through adolescence. Students receive integrative and interdisciplinary training in theory, application and research as well as advanced training in research methodology, statistics and qualitative analysis.

Gain marketable skills:

• Ability to apply child development and early childhood education knowledge to professional and academic practice
• Critical thinking skills
• Academic/scholarly writing skills
• Quantitative and qualitative research skills

Courses offered by semester

Faculty Advisors

Faculty from two departments serve as advisors for the child development & early education PhD students.

• Melissa Brown, Child Development
• Rhonda Buckley, Child Development
• Peggy Lisenbee, Early Childhood Education
• Elizabeth McCarroll, Child Development
• Lin Moore, Early Childhood Education
• Katherine Rose, Child Development
• Sharla Snider, Early Childhood Education
• Brigitte Vittrup, Child Development

Career Opportunities

• Faculty at a college/university
• Child care administration
• Early childhood education administration
• Public policy
• Federal or state agency positions
• Research

Contact

Melissa McInnis Brown, PhD
Associate Professor
mbrown50@twu.edu 
940-898-2675

Page last updated 11:26 AM, August 8, 2024