Our program
Curriculum and degree requirements
What you actually take, who sits on your committees, and what you have to clear to finish. Most students complete the Ph.D. in four to six years.
The shape of the degree
There is no fixed lock-step curriculum. Every student files an individualized plan of study, approved by their Ph.D. advisory committee, that lists the courses they will take. What follows is the set of requirements that plan has to satisfy.
Alongside the coursework are four research milestones, cleared roughly in this order: the master's proposal, the master's defense, the preliminary examination, and the dissertation proposal and defense. Research is not something that starts after coursework ends — students are expected to participate in research throughout their training, beginning in the first year.
Remember that we admit to the Ph.D. only. There is no terminal master's degree; the master's thesis described below is a milestone on the way to the doctorate, not a separate program you can apply to.
Coursework
Six credits of statistics, nine credits outside the I-O area, four I-O core courses, at least six hours of I-O seminars, and the I-O pro-seminar every semester you are here.
Research milestones
A master's thesis, typically defended by the end of the third year; a two-part preliminary examination; and the dissertation.
Teaching
Most students teach. A funded student typically works as a graduate teaching assistant for 20 hours per week during the academic year.
Coursework
Department requirements
Every doctoral student in Psychological Sciences, whatever their area, satisfies two department-wide requirements. Both must appear on the Ph.D. plan of study, and only courses earning an A or B count toward them — a C+ or lower means repeating the course.
Statistics — six credits
Students take one of the following sequences. The statistics requirement must be met in order to receive the master's degree, and area coordinators advise on the sequence that suits a given student best.
- PSY 60601 (ANOVA for the Behavioral Sciences) and PSY 63100 (Multiple Regression Analysis)
- PSY 60000 (Statistical Inference) and PSY 60100 (Correlation and Experimental Design)
- STAT 51100 (Statistical Methods) or STAT 51200 (Applied Regression Analysis), plus one further course from STAT 51200 or STAT 51400 (Design of Experiment)
Outside the area — nine credits
Three additional graduate courses outside your major area of concentration, in addition to anything the area itself requires. At least one must be a graduate course offered within the Department; up to two may come from outside it — an interdisciplinary neuroscience course, a human development and family science course, a sociology course. All three are approved by your Ph.D. advisory committee when it approves your plan of study.
Coursework
I-O area courses
On top of the department requirements, the I-O area asks for four core courses, a further six hours of seminars, and continuous participation in the area's colloquium. A grade of B− or better is required for area courses.
The four core courses
- PSY 68010 — Survey of Industrial Psychology
- PSY 68020 — Survey of Organizational Psychology
- PSY 68110 — Survey of Research Methodologies in Industrial-Organizational Psychology I
- PSY 68120 — Survey of Research Methodologies in Industrial-Organizational Psychology II
Seminars and colloquium
- At least six hours in I-O psychology graduate seminars, beyond the four core courses. Seminar topics follow the faculty's current research.
- The I-O pro-seminar (also called the I-O colloquium, PSY 69200), which students enroll in every fall and spring semester.
Course numbers and requirements are drawn from the Department of Psychological Sciences Graduate Handbook, 2026–2027 edition, which is the authoritative source and goes into considerably more detail than this page. Where the two ever disagree, the handbook is right.
Milestones
The master's thesis
The master's thesis is an original research project that typically involves the use of empirical data. The process has two parts: a proposal — a written document describing the project, and a meeting at which the committee approves it — and a defense, at which the committee evaluates the completed thesis, your presentation of it, and your command of the topic. The defense is typically completed by the end of the third year.
The master's committee is at least three faculty. Your major professor chairs it, and at least one of the other two must be from the I-O area. The third may be from inside or outside the I-O area, and from inside or outside the Department.
Students who arrive with a thesis-based master's degree from another institution can ask to have the Purdue thesis requirement waived. A three-person committee — your major professor as chair, plus two I-O faculty chosen in consultation with the area coordinator — reviews the earlier thesis and decides whether it is acceptable.
The preliminary examination
The prelim comes after the master's defense. (A student can request to have that ordering waived if there is a clear timeline for defending the master's thesis within three months of the exam.) It has two parts.
Part one — breadth
A closed-book examination of nine questions, covering the major topic areas within industrial psychology, organizational psychology, and research methods, with some choice over which questions you answer. It usually takes place in May, across a morning and an afternoon session on a single day.
The examining committee is at least three faculty, including your major professor, all from the I-O area.
Part two — a submitted paper
Submission of a first-authored manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal for review. This is typically work conducted at Purdue, and your advisor reviews and approves it before it goes out.
Students are encouraged to complete this part within the first three years of the program.
The dissertation
Like the thesis, the dissertation is an original research project that typically involves empirical data, and it follows the same two-step shape: a written proposal approved at a committee meeting, then a defense of the completed document.
The dissertation committee is larger — at least four faculty. Your major professor chairs it. At least two of the remaining three must be from within Psychological Sciences, and of those two at least one must be from the I-O area (both may be). The fourth member must be from outside the I-O area, and may come from inside or outside the Department. A student who wants a five-person committee can have one, with the membership approved by the I-O area faculty.
Questions this page does not answer
Deadlines, the GRE, fees, funding and English proficiency requirements all live on the admissions pages.