Degree Requirements

Courses Overview

The Doctoral degree at the GSE is a very individualized program of study. It is designed by a student, in conjunction with their faculty advisor, based on the student’s research needs and interests. The Core requirements guide each student’s educational plan as established by the faculty of the program or concentration within the student’s Area, the faculty of the GSE, and the University.

Appropriate courses in other departments of the University (e.g., Anthropology, Linguistics, or Psychology), as well as courses within the GSE, may be used to fulfill GSE course requirements. Students must consult with their advisor when selecting courses outside the GSE to fulfill degree requirements.

Note: All units must be in courses at or above the 100-level in a degree-granting program in order to count toward the doctoral degree requirements in the GSE. The GSE expects students to take all of their courses at the 200 level or above (at least 50 percent of courses at the 200 level are required by the university). A limited number of 100-level courses may count with advisor and Area Committee approval. English for Foreign Students (ESFLANG 600 level) courses and Athletic (ATHLETIC) courses, e.g., social dance or yoga, do not count toward the doctoral degree requirements in the GSE.

Core Courses

The doctoral program consists of five groups of required courses:

1. In the first year: IDEAS 1, 2, 3 (EDUC 325A, B, C) in Autumn, Spring and Winter.
2. Autumn Quarter of the first year: EDUC 400A, Introduction to Statistical Methods in Education.
3. By the end of the second year: Research Methods Core:
   1. One research methods course chosen by the student in consultation with their advisor (course must be at least 3 units, be at or above the 200 level, and have a research methods focus)
   2. EDUC 400B, Statistical Analysis in Education: Regression
   3. EDUC 450A , Qualitative Analysis in Education
4. Advanced Research Methods (at least one)
5. Area requirements or Area Core courses specific to a student’s Area and emphasis (e.g., Higher Education Administration).

With the exception of EDUC 325A, B and C, a student may use the same course to satisfy more than one of the above areas. For example, 400B counts toward Core requirements, and could possibly count toward an Area-specific requirement as well (see Area Course Requirements section below).

Research Methods Core

Doctoral students are required to complete a Research Methods Core within their first two years of the program.

Students who take 400B are responsible for having mastered the content of EDUC 400A. Students should consult with their advisors at the beginning of their first year about whether they need to take EDUC 400A to be adequately prepared for 400B.

Students are encouraged to complete the Research Methods Core as soon as possible because their Qualifying Paper, due at the end of the second year or sixth quarter, will depend upon methodology skills and expertise acquired in these courses.

Students who are interested in further methods course offerings may wish to explore the GSE Qualitative Course Guide and the GSE Quantitative Course Guide. Please note, not all courses will be offered every year. The most up-to-date class scheduling information can be found on Navigator or Explore Courses.

Area Requirements or Area Core Courses

Each of the School’s three program Areas (CTE, DAPS, and the subplans within SHIPS), as well as the cross-area specializations (LSTD and RILE) require specific courses, dependent upon a student’s emphasis or concentration. See the applicable Area sections in this Handbook for more details.

Course Waivers

In the GSE, students have the ability to request a course waiver exempting them from needing to take a required GSE methods or area course. These courses include the methods sequence: EDUC 400A , EDUC 400B, and EDUC 450A; as well as required courses for a student's area or subplan (see that area/subplan's section of the handbook for course requirements). For methods courses, approval is required from the instructor of the course the student is waiving, and for area/subplan courses, approval is required from the advisor and area chair. Students should obtain written confirmation from the required parties and submit it to the Doctoral Programs Officer. The same procedure should also be followed in cases where a student would like to substitute another course in place of an area or methods requirement.

Cognate Requirement

Students who have not earned, and do not plan to pursue, a relevant discipline-based master’s degree from outside the field of Education are required to earn a doctoral minor outside of the GSE. The PhD minor must be in an acceptable field relevant to the student’s degree program. The only exceptions to this requirement are when students enter the GSE with an earned master’s or doctorate degree from a cognate discipline that fulfills the purpose of this requirement, or when a student pursues a Stanford master’s degree outside of the GSE concurrently with her or his PhD program at the School of Education. Many Education doctoral students decide to earn a Stanford master’s degree concurrently (outside of Education) instead of opting for the PhD minor. This may provide additional grounding in the relevant discipline. This choice should be discussed with the student’s academic advisor and the Doctoral Programs Officer.

Two types of minors are available to PhD students in the GSE: Departmental Minor and Individually Designed Distributed Minor. Both require substantial coursework from a department or school within Stanford, but outside of the GSE. Regardless of the PhD minor option taken, outside course work should be selected to further the intellectual goals of the student. A student’s doctoral program advisor must authorize pursuit of the PhD minor and the related course of study. Courses used toward a minor may not be used also to meet requirements for an additional Master’s degree at Stanford, when applicable. Minor courses can count toward the minimum residency and degree requirements for the PhD.

To declare the minor, the student should submit the appropriate signed forms to the Doctoral Programs Officer.

Departmental Minor

Most departments in the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) offer doctoral minors (see the department listings within the current Stanford Bulletin for further information). The number of required units varies but is typically within the 20–36 unit range. There usually exists within these minors some flexibility allowing students to tailor the minor to their intellectual goals.

The minimum University requirement for a Ph.D. minor is 20 units of relevant graduate course work at the 200-level or greater taken at Stanford. However, each department may add requirements beyond this minimum. The definition of relevant course work may vary somewhat by department (e.g. cross-listed courses and courses at the 100-level may or may not be accepted). And they may require all coursework to be taken on a letter graded basis, with a grade of B or higher. Also, some PhD minors require completion of a qualifying process and/or representation by the minor department on the oral exam committee.

Specific signatory and course requirements should be discussed with the applicable minor department’s Graduate Studies Administrator followed by the Doctoral Programs Officer at the School of Education. Students can also review the department requirements in the Stanford Bulletin. Only the minor department’s Chair can approve an application for the PhD minor. In addition, the application must be approved by the GSE's Associate Dean of Educational Affairs (in the capacity of the Major Department Chair).

Individually Designed Distributed Minor (IDDM)

The Individually Designed Distributed Minor (IDDM) should only be undertaken if the student’s interests are not met by any Stanford departmental PhD minor. The student must meet with the faculty advisor to discuss his or her plans for an IDDM.

There are two cases where an official Departmental Minor might not be appropriate. First, that minor might require a course (or courses) with little relevance for the student’s intellectual goals. Second, in some cases a student’s intellectual interests do not fall neatly within the boundaries of one department in Humanities and Sciences (H&S); many important educational problems are interdisciplinary in nature.

The student can design (with consultation from their advisor and other faculty) a coherent set of courses that are drawn from the offerings of one of several Stanford departments. All units counted toward the IDDM must be taken at Stanford. This proposed set of courses, together with a strong rationale for how the coursework advances the intellectual goals of the student, requires approval by the program advisor, Area Chair, and Associate Dean of Educational Affairs.

The IDDM requires a minimum of 20 units taken in departments other than Education. When taking cross-listed courses, only 5 cross-listed units may be taught by GSE faculty. In many cases, however, the intellectual goals of the student might be better met if more than the minimum number of courses (i.e., 20 units) is completed outside of Education. All courses counted toward the IDDM must be at or above the 200 level.

Unit or Residency Requirements

The minimum unit requirement for the PhD at Stanford and the GSE is 135 units. This is known as residency credit at Stanford (see policy here), which focuses on unit-counting. Specific degree requirements are determined by the department or school. Up to 45 units of applicable graduate level coursework transferred from another institution or completed in another graduate degree program at Stanford can count toward the 135 units required for the doctoral residency requirement. When transferring the maximum 45 units of graduate coursework done elsewhere or at Stanford prior to admission to the PhD program, students must complete at least 90 units of courses taken at Stanford after admission to the PhD program in order to meet the residency requirements for the PhD degree, for a total of 135 units.

In addition to, and consistent with, the residency requirements, the University and the GSE require at least 90 units of approved Stanford graduate coursework to be listed on the Application for Doctoral Candidacy toward the 135 unit required minimum units for the PhD. These 90 units cannot count toward any other degree at Stanford, however, they can contain units used for an applicable PhD Minor. Refer to the Advancement to Candidacy section of this Handbook or the Stanford Bulletin for more details about doctoral candidacy requirements.

Note: Courses taken through Stanford’s Exchange Scholar Program (also known as the IvyPlus Exchange Scholar Program) or the University of California Exchange Program count toward the 135-unit residency minimum.  Please see academic policy on exchange programs and implementation steps. Students must have advisor approval to participate in exchange programs. 

Graduate Residency Transfer Credit

If you earned a master's degree from another institution prior to beginning your Stanford doctoral program, you may petition to transfer up to 45 quarter units toward your graduate residency. Transferring external credit impacts your ability to earn a Stanford master's degree in addition to your PhD. If you wish to earn, or have earned, a Stanford master's degree, discuss your options with the Doctoral Programs Officer before petitioning to transfer external credit. Please note, if you plan to transfer your master’s degree from another institution, then your degree must be earned from a degree program outside of education. If your master’s degree is awarded from a School of Education or Department of Education, the units will contribute towards your doctoral unit count but it won’t satisfy your cognate minor requirement.