LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

2024-2025 CATALOG

The Academic Catalog is the official listing of courses, programs of study, academic policies and degree requirements for Loyola University Chicago. It is published every year in advance of the next academic year.

Cultural and Educational Policy Studies (PhD)

Curriculum

The PhD in Cultural and Educational Policy requires 60 credit hours of coursework, qualifying examination, and dissertation.

To fulfill the Cultural Foundations and Policy core, students will choose one course from each of the following areas: Comparative and International Education, History of Education, Philosophy of Education, and Sociology of Education. Students will then choose a Depth Area from those above and take five (5) courses within it.

Required Coursework

Cultural Foundations and Policy Core12
Sociology of Education
Philosophy of Education
American Schooling and Social Policy: A Historical Perspective
Comparative Education
Coursework in Depth Area15
Research Methods6
Educational Research I: Building a Body of Evidence With Qualitative Method 1
Educational Research II: Building a Body of Evidence Quantitative Method
Select Nine Graduate Level Electives 227
ELPS 600Dissertation Supervision0
ELPS 610Doctoral Study0
Total Hours60
1

RMTD 420 and RMTD 421 combined will fulfill the responsible conduct of research and scholarship training required by the Graduate School for all students completing a thesis or dissertation.

2

Students will select electives in consultation with their advisor to customize the course of study in the student's area of interest and research. Students are encouraged to complete coursework that contributes to a minor area of study within the four CEPS areas. 

Comprehensive Exam

After PhD in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies students complete core courses in the discipline and required research courses, they are eligible to complete their comprehensive examinations. The comprehensive examination is intended to establish that doctoral students have sufficient
comprehensive knowledge and academic writing skills to succeed in their areas of study. The examination consists of three different sections: one pertaining to the student’s area of concentration; one related to a minor area of study in one of the four CEPS core areas; and one on a topic connected to the student’s prospective dissertation. Over a one-week period, the student writes an essay in response to a question on each of these sections, so that all three sections are covered over three weeks. Each essay should be approximately 10-12 double-spaced pages in length (2500-3000 words excluding bibliography) but no more than 15 pages (3750 words excluding bibliography) overall. The essays should
include complete citations and bibliography in APA or Chicago Manual of Style format.

Dissertation

Students will define an area of research interest and propose a research program leading to a written dissertation. Oral defense of the dissertation required. The final dissertation will be deposited in a publicly accessible database in accordance with Graduate School policy.

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.