PhD in Child Development

Required degree: A Master’s degree in a related field to child development (education, social work, or psychology) from a regionally accredited school.

If you have your bachelor’s degree and would like to apply for doctoral study at Erikson, you can apply under a special combined Master of Science in Child Development (MSCD)/Ph.D. track, which guarantees admission to the doctoral program with maintenance of an A- average in the MSCD program. In addition, students who complete their MSCD at Erikson will receive automatic credit transfer. Students interested in this option should contact Dr. Amanda Moreno and review the MSCD application process.

International students must demonstrate English language proficiency.

• Research paper or academic writing sample
• Two short essays in response to questions
• A third short essay if you select the flex-time track
• Three letters of recommendation
• Academic transcripts from colleges/universities where you completed 30 or more credit hours. Please note: Unofficial transcripts may be uploaded into the application system for application review. Official transcripts will be required following admission.
• Select applicants will be invited for required interviews after initial application review.

At a minimum, you will take 12 required credits (4 courses) at Loyola, which will primarily be your research methods and statistics classes. Other than that, your coursework, mentoring, and project work will take place largely at Erikson. However, you are still entitled to the same resources as other Loyola graduate students, and many of our doctoral students do take advantage of these benefits, included but not limited to use of their library and meeting spaces, scholarship and training opportunities (e.g., grant-writing workshops), Graduate Student Association membership and events, and Loyola faculty on dissertation committees.

This degree does not lead to licensure. For clinical licensure, please review our MSW program.

We are not a clinical psychology program and do not seek accreditation from the American Psychological Association.

Every effort is made to match full-time students with an appropriate (up to) 20-hr./week assistantship which provides a stipend of $25,000 per year and comes with a full scholarship to Erikson classes (the credit hours taken at Loyola are self-paid).

Due to their existing work commitments, flex-time students are not eligible for assistantships and the associated full scholarship to Erikson classes, but they are still eligible for standard scholarship opportunities and financial aid packages.

Admitted students will be aware of their funding package prior to being required to accept or decline.

Full-time students are not permitted to maintain external full-time employment. Instead, most are matched with an Erikson-based 20 hr/week assistantship.

Applicants who are situated in a field-related full-time job that they wish to maintain (e.g., principal, center director, non-profit leader, school counselor, etc.) are now eligible for the “flex-time” track. This option allows us to meet the demands of working professionals who want to obtain their PhD, while working in positions that may be connected in advantageous ways to their doctoral studies.

The staff in our Field Education and Career Services Office will work with you to prepare you for seeking positions while you’re enrolled at Erikson and upon graduating from the program. You’ll receive feedback on your resume and cover letters, and we also maintain a job board on our campus portal where employers list part-time and full-time positions for which they’re hiring.

The Career Services team also plans an annual social work, early education, and child development job fair for Erikson students and alumni. In concert with the job fair, you can submit your resume to be included in an annual Resume Book that we distribute to organizations and managers who are interested in hiring Erikson students and alumni.

Erikson students live in a wide range of neighborhoods in Chicago and in the suburbs. We do not offer campus housing. While we can’t make specific recommendations about where you should live, we encourage you to find a neighborhood that suits your style, taste, and budget. To help you in your housing search, we work closely with StudentSpace, a free apartment-finding service that specializes in helping graduate students find housing in Chicago.

Because of Erikson’s small size, you’ll have access to a wide range of both informal and formal student support services. These include:

• The Field Education and Career Services team will help you identify and apply for your internship placement. Erikson has hundreds of pre-approved internship sites, so you don’t have to worry about finding a placement site on your own.
• Advising about your financial aid options, including personal financial education, is coordinated through the Financial Aid Office.
• Academic advising is facilitated through your faculty advisor and program director.
• The Academic Success Center provides services to help you with the academic reading and writing expectations of your program. The Center also sponsors discussion groups for selected master’s program courses.
• The Director of Disability Services provides advising and support for students with disabilities and students who need accommodations for their academic work.
• WorkLifeMatters is a confidential student assistance program offered to all Erikson students through Guardian and Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH). You have unlimited access to consult with a professional counselor via telephone. Face-to-face counseling sessions are available, if needed, with an IBH network provider — and up to eight sessions are free of charge as part of WorkLifeMatters.
• Validated parking at a reduced rate is provided to Erikson students in three nearby parking garages. You will also have access to deeply discounted public transportation through the CTA U-Pass program.