Academic Programs Catalog

College of Social Science

Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Graduate Study
Human Development and Family Studies - Doctor of Philosophy

Human Development and Family Studies is the interdisciplinary study of individuals and relationships across the lifespan in diverse contexts of families, communities, and cultures. Ph.D. candidates are prepared to transform the human experience through applied research rooted in social justice.

Doctoral students collaborate with faculty mentors in experiences related to applied research, developing a focal area of scholarship. Each student completes rigorous course work, including research methodology, comprehensive exams, and the dissertation. Student achievements are documented in a professional portfolio throughout the doctoral program.

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Human Development and Family Studies offers three concentrations from which students may choose. They include:

Child Development: focus on behavioral, psychological, biological, educational, and contextual processes that promote positive developmental outcomes in infants and young children.

Diversity, Youth, and Family Development: focus on developmental processes across life course periods from middle childhood to emerging adulthood within the context of family, community, schools and other environments within a sociocultural context. Particular contexts include attention to immigration, poverty, ethnic/racial socialization and identity, and sexual/gender socialization and identity. Study may focus on one life stage (i.e., middle childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood) or examine an issue (e.g., attachment, chronic illness, discrimination) across multiple periods within the life course. Completing a selection of courses on development in middle childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, cultures, identities, families, parenting or policy,agreed upon by the student and committee members will satisfy the concentration.

Couple and Family Therapy: focus on the application of research and theory to individual, group, couple and family therapy. Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).

In addition to meeting the requirements of the university and of the College of Social Science, students must meet the requirements specified below.

Admission

Admission to the doctoral program in human development and family studies is based on evidence of academic ability, research potential, leadership qualities, and fit of research interests with potential faculty mentors. Admission to the program assumes a background in the behavioral sciences; collateral course work that does not count toward the doctoral degree may be required where background is inadequate. Students who apply for the Human Development and Family Studies Ph.D. program must participate in an interview with a selected faculty committee. Students are admitted to the degree program in fall semester only.

Child Development: To be admitted to the doctoral program in human development and family studies with child development as the area concentration, an applicant must have completed at minimum, a bachelor’s degree, with a background in the behavioral sciences or related field.

Diversity, Youth, and Family Development: To be admitted to the doctoral program in human development and family studies with diversity, youth, and family development as the area concentration, an applicant must have completed at minimum, a bachelor’s degree, with a background in the behavioral sciences or related field.

Couple and Family Therapy: To be admitted to the doctoral program in human development and family studies with couple and family therapy as the area of concentration, an applicant must have completed a master's degree program with a major in marriage and family therapy or related field.

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Human Development and Family Studies

Students in the doctoral program in human development and family studies are required to complete the following:
1. The following course:
HDFS 901 Contemporary Scholarship in Human Development and Family Studies 3
2. Completion of 21 credits in methodology and statistics course work as approved by the student’s academic advisor.
3. Completion of 24 credits in HDFS 999 Doctoral Dissertation Research.
4. Completion of one of the concentrations noted below.
5. Successfully pass the comprehensive examination.
6. Successfully defend the doctoral dissertation.
7. One of the following concentrations:
Child Development
Complete all of the following (15 credits):
HDFS 826 Social-Emotional Development Birth to Eight Years: Biology, Relationships, and Culture 3
HDFS 827 Language and Literacy Development from Infancy to Formal Schooling 3
An additional 9 credits of course work chosen in consultation with the student’s guidance committee.
Couple and Family Therapy 
Complete all of the following (18 credits): 
HDFS 888 Diverse Families and Communities: Interventions and Strategies 3
HDFS 903 Evidence-Based Couple and Family Therapy Intervention Programs 3
HDFS 910 Contemporary Couple and Family Therapy Theories 3
HDFS 911 Outcome Research: What Works in Couple and Family Therapy Theories 3
HDFS 994 Advanced Evidence-Based Couple Therapy 3
HDFS 995 Couple and Family Therapy Supervision 3
Clinical Requirements (3 to 12 credits): 
HDFS 993 Internship 3 to 12
Doctoral students are required to complete a total of 1,000 hours of direct client contact before graduating (pre-doctoral and doctoral hours combined).
The Couple and Family Therapy Program at Michigan State University has been accredited by The Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Students entering the doctoral concentration in Couple and Family Therapy will be required to meet equivalent of the master’s Standard Curriculum of the Commission on Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).
Diversity, Youth, and Family Development 
Complete all of the following (12 to 15 credits):
HDFS 847 Theories of the Family 3
A course in diversity chosen in consultation with the student’s guidance committee 3
An additional 6 to 9 credits of course work chosen in consultation with the student’s guidance committee.