Eastern Michigan University
page banner

Doctoral Students

Eastern Michigan University offers four doctoral programs:  Clinical Psychology, Educational Leadership, Educational Studies, and Technology. Although each has specific requirements, the general steps for earning a degree are:

  1. Application and admission into the doctoral program 
  2. Meeting with academic advisor to develop a program of study 
  3. Completion of core, concentration, and research methods courses 
  4. Preliminary or comprehensive exam 
  5. Selection of dissertation committee (chair and members) 
  6. Preparation of dissertation proposal 
  7. Defense of dissertation proposal; successful defense confers "doctoral candidacy" status; use the Dissertation Manual as a guide 
  8. Dissertation research and writing 
  9. Dissertation defense; if successful, revise written document per committee comments
  10. Submit revised document to the Graduate School for editing – see deadline dates and checklist 
  11. Apply online in my.emich to graduate
  12. Complete required dissertation edits; submit document to ProQuest and EMU Library through Digital Commons
  13. Complete Survey of Earned Doctorate for those earning a Ph.D. (not EdD)
  14. Graduation – attendance at Commencement ceremony is rewarding, though not required, and the ceremony for doctoral students is slightly different - find out how it differs)

Each of these steps is explained in detail in the Graduate School Dissertation Manual.

Doctoral Fellow Assistant Positions

EMU has a limited number of Doc Fellow positions to offer doctoral students. Positions will either be offered to you upon admission or you may apply for them. Consult your academic program regarding procedures.

If your program uses an application process, the position may be posted to emujobs.com. The process is the same for obtaining a Graduate Assistant (GA) position. See our Graduate Assistantship section for information on hiring, payroll, tuition, and policy information. Please note the Payroll section in particular.

Both Doc Fellows and GA positions offer income/stipend and tuition/fees paid. Doc Fellow positions average 25 credits of tuition and all enrollment fees paid in the fiscal year (July 1-June 30). Late registration fees or other late fees are NOT covered. EMU does offer an insurance policy for all students, but the policy is NOT paid for by the Doc Fellow or GA position.