The PhD Minor in Applied Linguistics provides doctoral students the opportunity to pursue an official credential in applied linguistics that complements their research interests and graduate major program.  Doctoral students work in consultation with the APLNG graduate minor program head and their graduate program advisor to plan their program of study.

General requirements for a PhD Minor

1. a minimum of 15 credits at the 400, 500, or 800 level
2. at least 50% of the credits must be at the 500-level
3. a student must be admitted to a minor prior to scheduling the comprehensive examination
4. a student may not pursue more than three minors while completing their Ph.D. program
5. at least one Graduate Faculty member from each minor field must be on the student’s Ph.D. committee
6. credits for the minor must be approved by the graduate major program and graduate minor program heads

Below are the specific policies from the Graduate School regarding PhD Minors. For additional information and the Request to Add Graduate Minor form, please visit the Graduate School website: GCAC-709 Professional Doctoral Minor – Professional Doctorate (psu.edu)

1. A doctoral minor must require a minimum of 15 credits at the 400, 500, or 800 level. At least 50% of the credits must be at the 500-level.
   
   1. All credits must be approved by the graduate major program and graduate minor program heads, who are responsible for ensuring that the student has completed the required number of credits in courses distinct from the student’s primary academic and (if relevant) research focus regardless of the course abbreviation/prefix, appropriate to earn a distinct minor credential.
   2. Credits required for a graduate minor program may be counted towards the student’s graduate major degree requirements. A graduate program’s policy restricting the double counting of credits must be approved through the Graduate Council curricular review process and be stated in the graduate program’s Graduate Bulletin listing.
2. A minor may be taken in one of the approved graduate degree programs offered at Penn State, or in one of the stand-alone graduate minors approved by Graduate Council.
3. A student may not pursue more than three minors while completing their Ph.D. program. If a student pursues more than one minor, each minor must have a separate group of courses to support it (i.e., none of the courses may be applied to the requirements for more than one minor).
4. If the student completed a minor with a master’s degree in the same field proposed for a doctoral minor, the 6 credits taken for the master’s minor cannot count towards the doctoral minor. However, credits earned in the master’s program beyond those applied to either the master’s minor or major can be applied to the doctoral minor.
5. At least one Graduate Faculty member from each minor field must be on the student’s Ph.D. committee. Typically, these faculty members will be appointed in the Department of Applied Linguistics, but they can be faculty members affiliated with the Department of Applied Linguistics with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. (See GCAC-602 Ph.D. Committee Formation, Composition, and Review – Research Doctorate).
6. Students must be admitted to the minor prior to scheduling the comprehensive examination.
7. The dissertation adviser, the Ph.D. committee, or the graduate major program may advise a Ph.D. student to pursue a minor.
8. A Ph.D. student seeking a minor must have the approval of their graduate major program head (in consultation with the dissertation adviser, if assigned, and the Ph.D. committee, if appointed) and the graduate minor program head.
9. The graduate minor program head is responsible for advising students on courses to be taken in the minor field, approving those courses, and certifying that all requirements for the minor have been met.

Process

1. A student declares a minor by submitting a Request to Add/Modify Graduate Minor form before the end of the add/drop period in order to be added in the same semester.
2. If the minor program approves a change to a student’s minor program of study, a new Request to Add/Modify Graduate Minor form must be submitted before the end of the add/drop period.