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LADISLAUS SEMALI, Program Contact; Associate Professor of Education
257 Chambers Building
814-865-2246

Degrees Conferred: Students earn a dual-title degree in this option through participating programs at either the Ph.D. (or D.Ed.) or the M.A., M.S., M.Ed. level. Students receive a degree which lists their major program and Comparative and International Education.

The Graduate Faculty

David P. Baker, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins) Professor of Education and Sociology
William L. Boyd, Ph.D. (Chicago) Batschelet Chair of Educational Administration
Miryam E. Espinosa-Dulanto, Ph.D. (Wisconsin, Madison) Assistant Professor of Education and Applied Linguistics
Constance Flanagan, Ph.D. (Michigan) Professor of Agricultural and Extension Education
Roger L. Geiger, Ph.D. (Michigan) Distinguished Professor of Education
Kenneth C. Gray, Ph.D. (Virginia Tech) Professor of Education
Rukmalie Jayakody, Ph.D. (Michigan) Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, and Demography
James Johnson, Ph.D. (Wayne State) Professor of Education
Matt Kaplan, Ph.D. (CUNY) Associate Professor of Agricultural and Extension Education
Gerald LeTendre, Ph.D. (Stanford) Professor of Education
Beverly Lindsay, Ph.D. (American) Professor of Education
Michael G. Moore, Ph.D. (Wisconsin, Madison) Professor of Education
Elias Mpofu, Ph.D. (Wisconsin, Madison) Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Services Education
Derek Mulenga, Ph.D. (Northern Illinois) Assistant Professor of Education
Murry R. Nelson, Ph.D. (Stanford) Professor of Education
Kyle L. Peck, Ph.D. (Colorado, Boulder) Professor of Education
Suet-ling Pong, Ph.D. (Chicago) Professor of Education and Demography
David Post, Ph.D.. (Chicago) Professor of Education
Madhu Suri Prakash, Ph.D. (Syracuse) Professor of Education
Ladislaus M. Semali, Ph.D. (California, Los Angeles) Associate Professor of Education
Hoi K. Suen, Ph.D. (Northern Illinois) Professor of Educational Psychology

The Comparative and International Education dual-title degree program option is administered by the Committee on Comparative and International Education. The committee maintains program definition, identifies courses appropriate to the option, develops and administers the program's comprehensive examination, and recommends policy and procedures for the program's operation to the dean of the College of Education and to the dean of the Graduate School. Members of the committee also chair or co-chair the dissertation committees for students electing the dual-title doctoral degree.

The dual-title degree program is offered through participating programs in the College of Education and, where appropriate, other graduate programs in the University. The option enables students from several graduate programs to gain the perspectives, techniques, and methodologies of comparative and international education, while maintaining a close association with program areas of application. Comparative and international education is a field devoted to the systematic analysis of the operation and effects of the world's education systems. For admission to pursue a dual-title degree under this program, a student must apply to (1) the Graduate School; (2) one of the participating graduate major programs; and (3) the Committee on Comparative and International Education.

Admission Requirements

Program candidates will be required to take the Graduate Record Examination, to provide a writing sample, and, where appropriate, a satisfactory TOEFL score, and to submit a written personal statement indicating the career goals they hope to serve by attaining a Comparative and International Education degree.

Degree Requirements

To qualify for a dual-title degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the graduate major programs in which they are enrolled, in addition to the minimum requirements of the Comparative and International Education program.

For the M.A., M.S., or M.Ed. dual-title degree in Comparative and International Education, the minimum course requirements are: 3 credits in the required Proseminar in Comparative and International Education; 6 credits in advanced Comparative and International Education courses; and 3 credits in Comparative and International Education content courses. Candidates for the dual-title master's degree in Comparative and International Education will also be required to pass a written comprehensive examination based on a set of core readings established by the committee.

A master's thesis or master's paper is required, depending upon the student's graduate major program, the supervisor of which must be a member of the graduate faculty recommended by the chair of the program granting the degree and approved by the Committee on Comparative and International Education as qualified to supervise work in Comparative and International Education.

The minimum course requirements for the Ph.D. (or D.Ed.) dual-title degree in Comparative and International Education are: 3 credits in the Proseminar in Comparative and International Education; 6 credits in advanced-Comparative and International Education courses; 12 credits in Comparative and International Education content courses or courses with comparative or international content; and 6 credits in research methods. Students are expected to be fluent in reading, writing, and speaking English, and must demonstrate competency in reading a language other than English, preferably a language relevant to a country or geographic area they propose to study. (This foreign language requirement can be satisfied by passing the appropriate ETS Language Achievement Test, or by passing the appropriate Penn State foreign language course.) A minimum of 18 credits must be 500-level course, and particular courses may satisfy both the graduate major program requirements and those in the Comparative and International Education program. Candidates for the dual-title doctoral degree in Comparative and International Education will also be required to pass a written comprehensive examination based on a set of core readings established by the committee.

A Ph.D. (or D.Ed.) minor program in Comparative and International Education is available to doctoral students who find it desirable to include the perspectives and methodologies of Comparative and International Education in their programs and have been approved to do so by their doctoral committees. To qualify for a minor in Comparative and International Education, students must satisfy the requirements of their graduate major programs, and meet the following minimum requirements: 3 credits in the Proseminar in Comparative and International Education; 3 credits in a Comparative and International Education course; and 6 credits in Comparative and International Education content courses (or advanced courses) or in courses with comparative or international content offered outside the College of Education.

The doctoral dissertation committee of a Ph.D. (or Ed.D.) dual-title degree student is recommended, in conjunction with the Comparative and International Education committee, by the graduate major program granting the degree. The chair and at least two members of a doctoral committee must be members of the graduate faculty. The chair or co-chair of the dissertation committee must be a member of the Comparative and International Education committee.

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 599 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION (CI ED) course list

The Pennsylvania State University © 2004

The University reserves the right to change the requirements and regulations listed here and to determine whether a student has satisfactorily met its requirements for admission or graduation, and to reject any applicant for any reason the University determines to be material to the applicant's qualifications to pursue higher education. Nothing in this material should be considered a guarantee that completion of a program and graduation from the University will result in employment.

This electronic Graduate Bulletin is a version of the official bulletin of The Pennsylvania State University. It is suggested that users refer to this electronic bulletin when seeking the latest information about the University's academic programs and courses. Printed versions of the Bulletin are also official copies of the programs, courses, and policies in effect at the time of printing.

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY GRADUATE SCHOOL: 4/29/04

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY PUBLICATIONS: 3/6/07