The PhD Program at the University of Maryland School of Social Work is designed for professional social workers who hold the master's degree and who seek to make contributions to the profession through teaching, developing, and testing new knowledge for social work practice. The PhD Program is a 51-credit curriculum, with four distinct phases. Core Curriculum
The program begins with 18 credits of core courses (three hours of social welfare policy, 12 hours of research design and methods, including statistics, and three hours of social work theory and theory development). After completing the core courses, the student takes the qualifying examination, designed to test student mastery of the core curriculum. Specialization Curriculum
After completing the qualifying examination, the student takes a two-semester research practicum (6 credits), and specialization courses of 15 or more additional credits. Dissertation Proposal and Defense
The third phase is completion of a dissertation proposal, and defense of that proposal before a committee of faculty members. Dissertation
The final phase of the program involves conducting a major research project on a topic of importance to the social work profession. top . | 
