Ph.D. Degree in Sport & Exercise Education

Areas of Specialization

Teacher Education in Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education

Program Objective

The Ph.D. in Sport & Exercise Education prepares graduates to become members of the professoriate and enables them to 1) prepare physical education teachers and adapted physical education specialists, 2) conduct and disseminate educational research, and 3) provide leadership in sport pedagogy.

Career Opportunities

The program has earned an international reputation through scholarship and the preparation of students who have gone on to leadership roles in teacher education and related fields.

Time of Study

The Ph.D. program in Sport & Exercise Education requires a minimum of 135 credit hours of coursework. Students with master's degrees typically transfer 45 credit hours of master's coursework into their Ph.D. program. The faculty prefer that doctoral level students enroll for full-time study (at least 10 credit hours each quarter). Doctoral students who enroll full-time generally complete the program in 3 to 4 years (12-16 quarters). The Ohio State University's Graduate School requires doctoral students to enroll full time for a minimum of three out of four consecutive quarters.

Facilities for Graduate and Faculty Research

A research laboratory includes video recording machines, monitors, TVS, hypermedia, video editing capability, Mac and IBM hardware, electronic mail, and numerous software and CDS programs. A 5-station video playback laboratory with monitors and VCRs is available for student analysis assignments. There are graduate libraries in our program area with books and journals in Sport Pedagogy.

Financial Aid Opportunities

University Fellowships are available to qualified students from the Graduate School on a very competitive basis; however, the greatest opportunity for financial assistance comes from Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) positions within Sport & Exercise Education (SEE) and the Sport, Fitness, Health Program (SFHP). These GTA positions require fulltime enrollment. GTAs receive a full tuition waiver and a monthly stipend. A first year Ph.D. stipend is approximately $1000 per month for a total of nine months. GTAs assume a variety of responsibilities including teaching basic physical activity courses, teaching advanced skill courses for undergraduate students, supervising both on-campus and off-campus field experiences and teaching selected foundational courses in the undergraduate Sport & Leisure Studies major. Additional Graduate Associate positions are available through various grants administered by faculty within the SEE specialization.

Admission Criteria

• Teacher certification in Physical Education and 3 years teaching experience (or equivalent)
• Cumulative GPA of 3.3 or better in previous graduate coursework
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores indicating an ability to meet the research and language requirement of the program. Scores of 500 or better in each area of the general exam are preferred. The GRE score must be for a test taken within the last five years.
• International students must have completed a college degree in the United States or another country where English is the primary language or 1) score 213 or better on the computerized version of the Test of English As A Foreign Language (TOEFL), 2) score 550 or better on the pencil and paper version of TOEFL, or 3) score 82 or better on the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB).