Program of Study: Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education

In addition to meeting the requirements of the University and of the College of Music students must meet the requirements specified below.

Admission

To be considered for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy degree program in music education, an applicant must:

Submit to the College of Music his or her master's thesis, if a thesis was required for the master's degree.  An applicant who did not complete a thesis must submit a comparable sample of his or her academic or professional writing.

Have completed successfully at least three years of employment as a music teacher, as evidenced in letters of recommendation and other documents submitted in support of the application. 

Include in the letter required by the college a 500 to 700 word essay about the applicant's professional experience and future professional goals.

In addition, an international applicant is required to have fulfilled the university's English language proficiency requirement as described in the Graduate Education section of this catalog in one of the following three ways:

Have a total score of 580 (paper version) or 237 (computer version) or above on the Test of English as a Foreign Language with no subscore below 55 (paper version) or 21 (computer version).

Have an average score of 85 or higher on the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery with no subscore below 82.

Have an average score of 85 or higher on the English Language Center Test with no subscore below 82.

To be admitted to the program on regular status, an applicant must have a master's degree in music education or a total of 30 credits of approved course work.

Students who are admitted to the doctoral program in music education should have completed each of the following graduate courses with a grade of at least 3.0 (B):  one music history course from the Baroque period or earlier (pre–1750), one music history course from the Classical period or later (post–1750), and one music theory course in advanced analysis.  A student who has not completed such courses will be required to complete those courses, in addition to completing the courses that are required for the doctoral degree.

Guidance Committee

The student is responsible for selecting the members of his/her advisory committee, which must be formed in the first year of graduate study. The committee should consist of an advisor, who must be a music education faculty member, two additional music education faculty members, and one member of the music faculty  in the student's cognate area.

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Music Education

The student must:

1. Complete a minimum of 36 credits of course work as specified below:
 
a. Music Education Core (15 credits):
(1) All of the following courses (12 credits):
MUS960: Seminar in Measurement in Music Education, 3
MUS962: Advanced Studies in the Philosophy of Music Education, 3
MUS965: Advanced Research Methods in Music Education, 3
MUS966: Seminar in Qualitative Research in Music Education, 3
 
(2) One of the following courses (3 credits):
MUS861: Seminar in Psychology of Music Education, 3
MUS862: Seminar in Music Curriculum and Methodology, 3
MUS964: Seminar in College Music Teaching, 3
 
2. Music Cognate.  Nine credits in graduate courses in one of the following areas:  composition, conducting, jazz, music therapy, musicology, theory, or performance.
 
3. Electives.  Twelve credits in graduate courses within or outside the College of Music.
 
4. Demonstrate competency in teaching.  This requirement must be met by teaching a college–level music course or ensemble under the guidance of a faculty member.
 
 
5. Demonstrate competency in scholarship.  This requirement must be met by writing and submitting for publication a scholarly paper on an aspect of music education and presenting the paper at an on–campus or off-campus colloquium approved by the student's academic advisor.

Click on the links below to download graduate handbooks, guidance committee report forms and sample degree plan templates--open the form or template and substitute your own information as needed.