Program Overview

The Exceptional Learning Ph.D. (ELPhD) program focuses on the characteristics, strengths, and educational needs of individuals and groups whose learning potential and opportunities for success are frequently unrealized. Exceptional populations include people for whom social, economic, and physical characteristics may serve as a barrier to development and learning.

The ELPhD program offers robust academic preparation of professionals who serve their communities, public school systems, institutions of higher education, and nontraditional educational environments. Our graduates are leaders who work across local, regional, national, and international platforms to effect positive change in diverse populations of exceptional learners and educational contexts, addressing barriers to learning, primarily through research and service activities.

The ELPhD curriculum is organized around three areas of knowledge development-core, concentration, and research. Core knowledge includes an orientation to the program, theory, foundations for understanding exceptional populations, program planning and evaluation, and technology. Concentration knowledge helps students to deepen and hone their specific interests. The innovative research sequence grounds students in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

Health Behavior and Wellness Education (HBWE) offers cutting-edge, hands-on experiential courses along with related pedagogical methods and theory. HBWE research courses supply additional opportunities to research and address discipline-specific concerns. This comprehensive and novel design supplies students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to succeed professionally and lead change in health sciences and wellness disciplines. (Concentration Leader – Dr. Christy Killman)