Admission Requirements

As a University of Phoenix learner, you can earn your doctoral degree from the largest private university in North America-and sooner than you may think. With our convenient learning format, you also can earn your degree while still having time for your work, family and other commitments.

Following are the admission requirements for the School of Advanced Studies at University of Phoenix. Contact us today about starting your doctoral degree program.

Doctoral Admission Requirements

To enter a doctoral degree program, you must:

• have a master's degree from a regionally accredited, or candidate for accreditation, or approved nationally accredited college or university, or a comparable degree from a recognized institution outside the United States. NOTE: A master’s degree is not required for the Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial/Organizational Psychology program. Please see below
• have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on graduate degree posted transcripts.
• have three years of professional work experience with current or a record of past employment in a leadership position. NOTE: There is not a minimum employment requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial/Organizational Psychology program. For the Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration applicant, admission requires two years of professional experience in a higher education setting or two years of experience in a professional supervisory role within an equivalent (business, social services) setting.
• have a laptop computer with Internet access. Laptops must be brought to residencies.
• have a membership in a research library.
• have a signed University hardware/software agreement.

Specific educational requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial/Organizational degree program include:

• A bachelor’s degree with a cumulative total of nine credit hours in any of the following disciplines: statistics, social science, and/or psychology. Credits must be from a regionally or approved nationally accredited, or candidate for accreditation, college or university.
• A cumulative grade point average (GPA) or 3.0 posted on the bachelor’s degree, or one of the following:
• A 3.5 GPA for the last two years of coursework posted on the official bachelor’s transcript
• A combined minimum score eof 1100 for the verbal and quantitative sections and a 4.5 on the analytical section of the GRE is required for the Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology degree program.

Additional admission requirements for the Doctor of Business Administration program include:

• Students who do not have a graduate degree in business, management, or administration may be admitted if they meet all requirements, and have completed at least three credit hours in each of the following subjects: Finance for Managerial Decision Making, Human Relations and Organizational Behavior, Marketing Management, Strategy Formulation and Implementation, and Statistics and Research Methods for Managerial Decisions.
• Credits must be from a regionally or approved nationally accredited, or candidate for accreditation, college or university or equivalent recognized foreign institution.

Additional admission requirements for international applicants to doctoral programs:

• have a comparable graduate degree earned at a recognized foreign institution that is regionally or nationally accredited, or a candidate for accreditation, or an equivalent institution. Copies of official transcripts from the university will be required, as well as translations if the transcripts are not in English.
• have a minimum Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL®) test score of 213 or minimum Berlitz® score of 550 if your native language is not English. Either of these tests must have been taken within two years of applying to University of Phoenix. Click here to take the test. Alternatively, you may have a letter from the issuing institution's registrar or equivalent school official sent directly to University of Phoenix stating that English is the sole instructional language used in the foreign institution from which you received or plan to receive your degree. The letter must be on the institution's letterhead.