Admissions Requirements

Without Master’s degree

  • Baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the US Department of Education or an internationally recognized institution
  • Undergraduate degree from an accredited institution with a GPA of at least 3.0
  • Writing portfolio (two APA formatted papers)
  • Official GRE general test scores (DMU school code 5639) within the past five years. (The GRE score is required of all applicants and is considered part of a completed Application Package;  There is no cutoff score, but to be competitive in the application process a minimum score of 150 for verbal reasoning, 155 for quantitative reasoning, and 3.0 for writing is recommended.
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Resume including employment and other significant volunteer history
  • Written statement of intent (indicating how your goals align with the goals of the program)
  • International Students whose first language is not English or who have not completed a degree in which English was the medium of instruction must have taken the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) within the past two years, and the scores must be submitted directly to DMU by the testing agency. TOEFL scores must be at least 100 on the Internet-based version (IBT), 250 on the computer-based version (CBT), and 600 on the paper-based version (PBT). Academic IELTS scores must fall into the overall band of at least 7.0, with no individual band scores below 6.0.

With a Master’s degree in a related field (a minimum of 30 credits)

  • Application
  • Personal Statement
  • Official transcripts
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Minimum GPA of 3.0

With the Master of Science in Psychology from Divine Mercy University

  • Finished the MSP with a minimum GPA of 3.0
  • Official transcripts

Successful participants in the Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences program will demonstrate not only strong academic aptitude, exceptional research and writing skills, ability to gain knowledge that covers both a breadth of the field of psychology and depth in a specific area of the field, but also grit – the ability to persevere in the lengthy process of research and writing to complete the dissertation. In order to best support students in this endeavor, the Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences at DMU uses a cohort model to create a learning community. The initial cohort requires a minimum number of applicants to ensure a cohort size that leads to an ideal learning environment.

Transfer of Credit

Students may transfer up to 30 semester hours of Ph.D. coursework. For a transferred course to replace a Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences course, the following requirements must be met:

  1. The school at which the course was taken must be appropriately accredited.
  2. The course credit must be at least three semester hours or five quarter hours.
  3. The student must have earned a grade of B or better in the course.
  4. The course must overlap with the Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences course by at least 80%.
  5. Transfer credits must have been completed as post-master’s course work (700-900 level) within the previous seven (7) years to be accepted.
  6. Courses with a recorded grade of B- or below will not be accepted.

Correspondence studies or life experiences will not be accepted for transfer credit.

Courses Available for Audit and Non-Degree Students

In general, courses in the Ph.D. program cannot be taken on a course-for-credit or audit basis unless special permission is received from the Program Director.

Currently not accepting applications for this program.