MS Human Development and Family Science at University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Programme overview

The HDFS graduate program trains culturally responsive scientists and professionals who examine development in context, across families, neighborhoods, schools, communities and cultures. It offers a thesis option and a practicum option with a comprehensive exam, plus 5-year accelerated BS/MS pathways.

Faculty: College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences | Duration: Minimum 30 graduate credit hours | Study mode: full-time | Location: Knoxville, TN, United States

What you will study

Students complete a 21-hour core: HDFS 510 Theories in Human Development, HDFS 550 Theories in Family Science, HDFS 552 Diversity in Children and Families, HDFS 570 Research Methods, plus electives. The thesis option adds 6 thesis hours and a statistics course; the practicum option adds HDFS 564 and 565 practica, an approved statistics or methods course and a comprehensive exam.

Career pathways

Roles in community engagement, family life education, prevention and intervention, policy advocacy and research.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Applicants submit the online Graduate Admissions application and fee, a departmental application and three Graduate Rating Forms. Admission considers undergraduate/graduate GPA, rating forms, work experience and fit with department foci. Prerequisite: 9 credit hours of upper-division undergraduate social science.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Entry terms: Fall, Spring and Summer. Domestic applicants may apply up to two weeks before the start of the desired term unless the programme sets an earlier deadline.

International graduate applicants on F and J visas: Fall online submission April 15 and file completion May 15; Spring June 15 and October 1; Summer October 15 and February 15. Departmental deadlines may be earlier.

Apply through the official page: https://gradschool.utk.edu/

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