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Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education

Three to Five Year Degree (61-30)

The Supervisory Committee creates the Doctor of Philosophy program for each student in order to fulfill the best interests of that student’s education. Therefore, it is important that a student form a Supervisory Committee as soon as possible after entering the doctoral program. It is the responsibility of the Supervisory Committee to assure an appropriate program of study for each student. Program requirements assume an academic background equivalent to a master’s degree; see the master’s degree program requirements. The student’s committee will determine course equivalence from previous graduate study, including those from the Master’s degree program. The Graduate School requires ninety 90) credits for the doctoral degree, sixty (60) of which must be taken at the University of Washington. With the approval of the degree-granting unit, thirty (30) credits from an appropriate master’s degree may be counted toward the total enrollment requirement. In addition to coursework at the master’s level, the following is a breakdown of coursework required for the doctoral degree.

Major Area: 57  
MUSED 502, Quantitative Research in Music Education 3
MUSIC 504, Ethnographic Research in Music  3
MUSED 575, Seminar in Research Applications (to be taken every quarter until General Examination, 1-3, max.6) 6
Other Major Area Coursework: Take 18 credits of 500-level Music Education seminars 18
MUSIC 800, Dissertation Writing. Prepare a dissertation approved by the doctoral Supervisory Committee and present an oral defense of the dissertation. A student must register for a minimum of 27 credits of dissertation writing over a period of at least three (3) quarters. At least one of the three quarters must come after the student has passed the General Examination. See under Final Examination. 27
Other Studies in Music: 9  
Major Cognate Area: 9 credits of music coursework at the 400-level and above 9
Electives: 24  
6 credits from a minor cognate area, plus an additional 18 credits. Major and minor cognate area requirements for the Ph.D. are in addition to all coursework completed for the master’s degree 24

Total Credits: 90

Other Requirements:

  • Professional Presentations: All students must present two clinical or research sessions at a professional venue such as a state or national conference as part of the graduation requirements.
  • General Examination: Students may sign up for Music 600 with members of their committee in order to prepare for the General Examination. The examination consists of a written examination and a general oral examination. Doctoral students should have their committee established at least four months before the General Examination. The student submits the online General Examination request to the Graduate School no later than three (3) weeks before the exam. The Graduate School requires completion of 60 credits of coursework (including coursework taken for the master’s degree) prior to the General exam, 18 of which must be from the 500-level or above and 18 of which are from the 400-level or above and numerically graded.
  • Final Examination: Students must submit a draft of the dissertation to the Reading Committee no later than five (5) weeks before the Final Examination date. Once the Reading Committee has read a draft of the dissertation and agrees that it is ready to defend, the student submits the online Final Examination request to the Graduate School no later than three (3) weeks before the exam. See the Graduate School home page, http://www.grad.washington.edu, for information on formatting the exam, turning in the dissertation etc. A student must satisfy the Graduate School’s requirements for the degree at the time the degree is to be awarded.

Rev. 1/18

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