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Jan 02, 2026
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2025-2026 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog
Special Education, PhD
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The goal of the Special Education PhD degree is to prepare leadership personnel to assume academic faculty positions at the university level. The focus of preparation for the PhD program is on teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, mentoring graduate students, developing a research agenda that will result in funded and published research and translating research outcomes for the improvement of educational and related service programs for children and youth with disabilities. PhD candidates are mentored by a faculty adviser who shares their research interests and are supported by graduate faculty in Special Education. Students may focus their studies in one or more of the following areas: applied behavior analysis, autism, emotional and behavior disorders, learning disabilities, or severe disabilities. The PhD program is writing, and research-intensive and PhD candidates will have multiple opportunities to learn and participate in the review of research literature, the preparation and submission of research grant proposals, the design and implementation of research studies, and the preparation and dissemination of research reports.
The PHD program has a minimum of 72 credits of course work which includes dissertation research.
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Special Education Major Field (24 credits minimum)
Required:
- 18 credits minimum at the 3000-level or equivalent
- 15 credits minimum at the University of Pittsburgh
Possible classes:
- Professional Seminar in Special Education 1
- Issues and Trends in Special Education
- Instructional Practices in Special Education
- Professional Seminar in Special Education 2
- Legal and Legislative Issues in Special Education
- Advanced Single-Case Design
- Grant Writing in Special Education
Research Methodology (15 credits)
Research Practicum (3 credits)
Teaching Practicum (3 credits)
Special Education Writing Seminars (6-8 credits)
One credit per semester, starting in year 2.
Electives (variable credits)
Full-time Dissertation Study (0 credits)
Doctoral candidates who have completed all credit requirements for the degree, including any minimum dissertation credit requirements, and are working full time on their dissertations may register for this course. While the course carries no credits and no grade, students who enroll in “full-time dissertation study” are considered by the university to have full-time registration status.
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