Human Development and Family Science — Graduate Certificate, MS, PhD

Degree Programs

Graduate Certificates

The Department of Human Development and Family Science offers graduate instruction leading to the Master of Science in Child Life, the Master of Science in Human Development and Family Science, with an additional option in Marriage and Family Therapy, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Science. The Department emphasizes the integration of knowledge from various fields to prepare students for careers in research, teaching, and human service provision as well as education, policy, and industry. To promote training and research, the Department operates the Auburn University Early Learning Center, Harris Early Learning Center of Birmingham, and the Center for Marriage and Family Therapy. The Marriage and Family Therapy Option is accredited by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education. Both the Auburn University Early Learning Center and Harris Early Learning Center of Birmingham are accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, a division of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

For admission, a background in the social and behavioral sciences is highly desirable and should include course work in human development, family relations, psychology and/or sociology, and statistics. There is no language requirement for the MS or PhD degrees.

The department offers two MS concentrations (a) human development and family science and (b) marriage and family therapy. The human development and family science concentration requires a minimum of 30 semester hours and the concentration in marriage and family therapy requires 52 semester hours. Both require a thesis, and other fundamental work.

The PhD program requires a minimum of 60 credit hours beyond the BS. This program requires course work with a theoretical and substantive emphasis in human development and relationships, a research and statistics component, and an empirical dissertation.

Graduate research may focus on human development and relationships or the application of research to improve quality of life at any stage of the life cycle. Competitive graduate assistantships are available to students.