Admission Requirements

Enrollment

Maximum enrollment will generally be limited to approximately eight matriculated students, one or two accepted a year, dependent upon the amount of additional funding available to support students in this program, and by the availability of faculty members to serve as advisors within the demands of their individual workloads. Students will be admitted to the program based upon enrollment availability and their ability to meet the following recommended entrance requirements:

Admission Requirements/Criteria

Applications must be made online via the University of Delaware's Graduate and Professional Education web site and all relevant materials must be received by February 1. ​

Applicants should write to the PSP director in advance and submit a curriculum vitae and brief proposal for a dissertation topic. A pre-admissions advisory committee will be assembled to discuss and suggest changes so that a revised proposal can be submitted by February 1. Applications must include:

• All minimum University requirements

• A master’s degree in a discipline relevant to one of the program concentrations. All college and university transcripts should be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies; these must come directly from the institution

• A summary of intended dissertation research and the relation of this topic to existing UD expertise and resources should be incorporated into your personal essay in addition to a suggested list of courses taken from the online UD course listings. The research proposal should follow this outline:

  • Proposed project title

  • Project significance and goals

  • Background, preliminary survey of existing literature

  • Methodology, examples to be studied

  • Your ability to complete this project successfully, ability to speak or read the necessary languages, etc.

  • Faculty and coursework at the University of Delaware that you feel would be relevant to your study

  • Your personal essay should also discuss areas of interest, intellectual goals, and how this program would be seen to meet these goals. Applicants must demonstrate prior background work, especially in their Master's-level study, that will enable them to successfully complete graduate-level courses and conduct graduate-level research on the proposed dissertation topic

• A professional and academic curriculum vitae is required

• A writing sample to help the admissions committee assess the applicant's ability to design and conduct a research project and to communicate findings to the scholarly community

  • Published papers on a relevant topic would also be helpful
    

• Standardized test results (as applicable)
  

  • Applicants for whom English is not a native language should submit TOEFL scores in order to demonstrate satisfactory proficiency in the English language. A score of 79-100 or higher is required for internet-based TOEFL exams (IBT) and a minimum score of 550-600 for paper-based TOEFL exams. TOEFL exam scores are valid for two years. Please visit the Office of Graduate Studies International Applicants information page and click on “English Proficiency” for additional information on this topic.​
    

• Three letters of recommendation that speak to the applicant's ability to conduct research in the chosen area of concentration addressed to the PSP Director (currently Dr. Joyce Hill Stoner) by the recommender and submitted online

• Online submission of the official application form from the UD website to the Office of Graduate Studies by February 1

• The committee may request additional materials

For additional information or arrangements to visit the UD campus and meet with faculty please contact Dr. Joyce Hill Stoner at jhstoner@udel.edu.

Application information

Applicants are to contact the PSP Director (currently Dr. Joyce Hill Stoner, jhstoner@udel.edu) well in advance of the annual February 1 deadline, and preliminary discussions will be arranged by email in order to determine if there are potential faculty members available in the chosen concentration and what travel or analytical equipment funding may be necessary.

After receiving each applicant's curriculum vitae and description of the proposed dissertation topic, the PSP director will attempt to assemble a pre-admissions advisory committee of at least three interdisciplinary faculty members who can address the suggested topic to determine its suitability for available expertise at the University of Delaware. This committee will present its findings to a larger five-person interdisciplinary admissions/PSP advisory committee after all admissions materials listed above have been received.

Admission to the program is selective and competitive based on the number of well-qualified applicants and the limits of available faculty and facilities for each concentration and dissertation topic area. Applicants who meet stated minimum requirements are not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet all of those requirements necessarily precluded from admission if they offer other appropriate strengths. An on-campus interview with members of the pre-admissions advisory committee is strongly encouraged while the application is in progress.