Rehabilitation Science Curriculum

The PhD in Rehabilitation Science program is a research-focused degree comprising a minimum 58 credit hour curriculum. The first two years of the degree consist of didactic instruction in core, elective, and focused concentration courses. Students must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours of elective courses. The focused concentration tracks include movement science, neurocognitive rehabilitation, or the open concentration. Once the didactic instruction has been successfully completed, the student must pass a qualifier examination to advance to doctoral candidate status. As a doctoral candidate, an original research proposal for dissertation must be presented to his or her committee for approval. The dissertation committee shall consist of 3 faculty members, one of whom is at the host institution (local sponsor) and another who is an external expert in the subject matter. The student shall select their major professor from the core and associated faculty, then together they will select the other two committee members. Once the research proposal for dissertation is approved, the candidate carries out research and completes and orally defends a dissertation. Dissertation research progress determines when the student is eligible for graduation; the estimated time to completion is four to six years.