Become an Exceptional Teacher and Scholar
You know language is constantly changing—and you’re ready to be at the forefront of studying that change. Focus your abilities as a researcher and become an outstanding teacher with the PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program. At IUP, you’ll be surrounded by an accomplished group of doctoral students and faculty known for their enthusiasm, research, teaching, and publications.
Why Study Composition and Applied Linguistics at IUP?
You’ll be ready to pursue a career sharing your knowledge of linguistics as both an educator and an active researcher. Few graduate programs in the US offer the rich blend of these two disciplines from the teacher-scholar perspective.
IUP's PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States; the first class enrolled in 1976. While the curriculum has since been updated to meet changing demands in the field, our commitment to preparing leading teacher-scholars remains unchanged.
The current curriculum was crafted in 2018, ensuring you’ll be immersed in state-of-the-art scholarship and content courses.
What You’ll Learn
In your time at IUP, you’ll focus on your passions and strengthen your expertise through coursework and research on topics including:
- Composition and rhetoric
- Critical language literacies
- Digital technology and writing
- Research approaches
- Research writing and writing pedagogy
- Second language (teacher) education
Imagine Your Future
Hungry to pursue a career as a teacher-scholar? This is the program for you. Picture yourself as a faculty member, literacy researcher, writing program director, academic administrator, or expert consultant.
Many alumni go on to fulfilling careers in teaching. The job outlook and salary for English language and literature teachers and researchers is listed below.
Classes and Requirements
The Teacher-Scholar Model
The entire curriculum for the PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program is built on the concept of the teacher-scholar, making it a unique program.
IUP takes an interdisciplinary approach to composition and language teaching practices. You’ll develop a plan of study suited to your teaching and scholarly interests.
- Conduct innovative research.
- Serve as a teaching associate or part-time faculty member.
- Work in the American Language Institute, which offers intensive programs in English for international students and visitors, or IUP’s Writing Center.
Full Academic Catalog Listing
The course catalog is the official reference for all our degree and course offerings. Check it out for a full listing of the classes available and requirements for this degree.
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A Global Community of Scholars
As a student in the PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program, you’ll join a large family of dedicated professionals working in the United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. You’ll find a network of alumni who share your deep commitment to students, the teaching of writing and language, and to scholarship.
Internationally Recognized Faculty
The program is led by accomplished teacher-scholars from around the world. Faculty work across disciplines including the fields of composition, TESOL, rhetoric, and applied linguistics. You’ll benefit from their unique perspectives and integrated research on language, literacy, culture, and writing.
Professional Preparation
With a PhD from IUP, you’ll have the tools you need to be an outstanding teacher. Our program is designed to prepare you to be an English and applied linguistics instructor at both two- and four-year colleges and universities.
Your foundation is core courses in composition and applied linguistics. As a whole, your course of study is flexible to increase your professional qualifications, teaching effectiveness, and ability to meet students’ needs in the ever-changing academic marketplace.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Since 1975, the PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program has focused on celebrating diversity and maintaining an inclusive environment that promotes intercultural understanding among students and faculty. We affirm this commitment through our coursework and scholarship, which encourages us to consider both local and global perspectives on language and literacy policies, practices, and learning.
Our diverse family of students, faculty, and alumni come from all over the world including Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
Given our program’s inherently multicultural and multilingual values, we affirm our commitment to creating an inclusive environment for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual identity, ability, migration status, national origin, or other forms of identity. We welcome and honor the perspectives, cultures, and traditions that each of our students, faculty, and alumni bring to our program.
One or more years of teaching at a secondary, two-year, or four-year school, college, or university is recommended.
The deadlines to apply for the PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program is November 1 for the Low-Residency Cohort and February 1 for the Academic Year Cohort.
Students entering the program must have a master's degree with a GPA of at least 3.0 (3.5 to be competitive) in a language arts or education-related field such as composition, English, applied linguistics, literature, or communication. A minimum of one year of teaching at the secondary, two-year, or four-year college/university level is also recommended. Students who do not meet these prerequisites may have to successfully complete (with a 3.5 GPA or better) one or more designated pre-courses in the spring or summer sessions before being fully admitted to the PhD program.
All students must begin the program in either the fall semester (international full-time students) or summer (July) session. Graduate assistantship information (there is no longer a separate application, it is part of the application process), and a graduate catalog are available from the IUP School of Graduate Studies and Research website. Applicants should send completed admissions material directly to graduate admissions. IUP's School of Graduate Studies and Research notifies applicants of the admissions decision based on the recommendation of the Composition and Applied Linguistics program director and the Composition and Applied Linguistics Admission Committee. Once admitted, each student is responsible for registering for classes on a first-come, first-served basis; once all seats are full in the beginning classes, newly admitted students may be wait-listed or deferred to a later semester before they can begin the program. A graduate student is expected to assume full responsibility for knowing and fulfilling graduate program and university procedures and regulations.
Application to the doctoral program in Composition and Applied Linguistics also includes:
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An official transcript of all undergraduate coursework for which credit has been awarded with a minimum quality-point average of 2.6 on a 4.0 scale from an accredited institution of higher learning; a 3.0 is needed to be competitive with other applicants
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An official transcript of graduate level coursework for which a master's degree in English or a related area has been awarded with a minimum quality-point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale from an accredited institution of higher learning; a 3.5 is needed to be competitive with other applicants
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Two detailed letters of recommendation (three preferred) from individuals qualified to assess the student's academic performance and potential for doctoral studies in the Composition andApplied Linguistics program.
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A statement of goals. This should be well written and explain the applicant's research interests and how he or she hopes to pursue these interests through doctoral studies.
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TOEFL, Test of English as a Foreign Language, and IELTS, International English Language Testing System, scores are not required for students from countries where the first language is English, or when an applicant has earned a master's degree from a college or university in the United States. All other international applicants are required to submit TOEFL or IELTS taken no more than one year prior to the expected date of enrollment. IUP's School of Graduate Studies and Research will not process applications lacking TOEFL or IELTS scores.
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We look for a minimum TOEFL score of 600 paper-based (PBT), or 100 internet-based (iBT), and a minimum TWE (Test of Written English) score of 5.5. For the IELTS, we look for a score at least 6.5 to be considered and a 7.0 to be competitive.
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The linguistic proficiency of international students is assessed by examining all application materials: the TOEFL or IELTS scores, recommendation letters, goal statement, and the presence of content courses in English on the applicant's transcripts.
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GRE scores are not necessary for the application process.
In addition to the academic prerequisites and procedures for admission given above, international students must complete an international student preliminary application form and present evidence to IUP's School of Graduate Studies and Research of having financial resources sufficient to meet the cost of living in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the cost of travel to and from the student's native country, and the cost of graduate tuition and fees at IUP. Such evidence should be sent with the application packet directly to Graduate Admissions. More information on applying can be found on the Graduate Admissions website.
IUP's School of Graduate Studies and Research gives notification to the university's foreign student advisor of international student admissions; the foreign student advisor mails general information about the university, issues certificates of eligibility such as I20s, IAP-66s and related documents to admitted students. For more information for international students, please visit IUP's Office of International Education website.
We do not require the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Students may begin the program in the fall semester (Academic Year Cohort) or second summer session (Low-Residency Cohort) only. We do not begin students in the spring.
The graduate application form can be completed online. Directions are on the Graduate Admissions website.
The graduate application will have a place for applicants to indicate that they would like to be considered for a graduate assistantship. More information about financial aid or assistantships is available on the Graduate Admissions website.
The Graduate Catalog can be found online.
The graduate application form, graduate assistantship application, and graduate catalog are also available by contacting:
School of Graduate Studies and Research
101 Stright Hall
210 South 10th Street
Indiana, PA 15705
Do not send application materials to the Composition and Applied Linguistics program or to the English Department. All application materials can be uploaded as part of your application process or sent to Graduate Admissions. Only after your application is complete will it be released to the Composition and Applied Linguistics program for consideration by the application committee.
Questions about applying? Please contact graduate-admissions@iup.edu.
The Composition and Applied Linguistics Graduate Program is committed primarily to serving professionals who are employed or who have strong promise of employment.
This commitment means that course offerings are arranged to accommodate teaching schedules of secondary, two-year, and four-year college teachers. With this flexibility of scheduling, graduate students can usually pursue their studies without interrupting their careers, or they can take advantage of sabbaticals and leaves to complete course work.
Thirty-six credits of course work are required. Most students complete their course work in three consecutive summers (12 credits each summer) or in two academic years (nine credits each semester for four semesters). Once they begin, students are expected to make steady progress through course work and their dissertations.
For Academic Year (F1 and J1 visa holders) Cohort Students
Academic year cohort students will take three courses in each of the fall and spring terms and may take one course each summer, two with the approval of the doctoral coordinator. The exception to the three courses each semester requirement relates to students' final spring semester when they may take the number of courses required to complete the required 36 hours. Leaves of absence are not permitted as noted in the leaves of absence policy in the Program Handbook.
For Low-Residency Cohort Students
In the first year, Low-Residency cohort students will take two face-to-face courses in summer, one to two remote courses in fall, and the same option in spring. This sequence will repeat until all courses have been completed (36 credit hours). Leaves of absence are not permitted, as noted in the leaves of absence policy in the Program Handbook.
Total Credit Hours: 48 (Including Dissertation)
Each year, the Composition and Applied Linguistics program is allocated a limited number of graduate assistantships. At IUP, these graduate assistantships are selectively awarded to highly qualified graduate students who have been admitted to degree programs. Assistantships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence rather than financial need. Graduate assistantships are under the supervision of the Composition and Applied Linguistics faculty.
Duties may include assisting on a research project, library research work, course assistance, or tutorial aid in the Writing Center or the American Language Institute. Assistantships may be renewable for a second year. Assistantships are not available during the summer. The School of Graduate Studies and Research (SGSR) issues assistantship contracts, and the Composition and Applied Linguistics program director makes assignments of graduate assistants to faculty members.
Twenty-hour full assistantships (awarded only to full-time graduate students):
- Require approximately 20 hours of student work per week during the fall and spring semesters (maximum of 600 hours over the period of the assistantship)
- Provide a specific stipend amount
- Include full tuition remission for degree-required credits during the academic year
- Enable student to be eligible for up to nine degree-required credits of tuition waiver (with permission from the Composition and Applied Linguistics program director) in the summer following the assistantship
Eight-hour or 10-hour half assistantships (awarded only to full-time graduate students):
- Require approximately eight to 10 hours of student work per week during the fall and spring semesters (maximum of 300 hours over the period of the assistantship)
- Provide a specific stipend amount
- Include a 50 percent tuition remission for degree-required credits during the academic year
- Enable student to be eligible for a maximum tuition waiver up to six degree-required credits (with permission from the Composition and Applied Linguistics program director) in the following summer
Stipends for assistantships may change from year to year. Potential applicants should check with SGSR for current stipend levels.
The deadline for applying for a Fall assistantship is March 15 of the same calendar year.
Students should contact the graduate school to apply for graduate assistantships. The graduate school issues assistantship contracts, and the program director makes assignments of graduate assistants to faculty members. For more information, please visit the Financial Aid office.
International Students: Assistantships cannot be used to indicate financial support on the IUP Foreign Student Financial Statement Form.
Faculty
Our program's faculty members are teacher-scholars in the true sense of the term. They teach introductory undergraduate as well as graduate courses. They publish books with presses whose titles are used in graduate programs across the country: Heinemann Boynton/Cook, Cambridge University Press, the National Council of Teachers of English, Hampton Press, TESOL Publications, and the University of Michigan Press, to name a few.
Our faculty members' articles have appeared in journals such as College Composition and Communication, Computers and Composition, English Journal, English Teaching Forum, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Journal of Reading, Language Teacher, PRE/TEXT, Research in the Teaching of English, TESOL Journal, TESOL Quarterly, and Writing Instructor.
Look for them at conferences such as the American Association of Applied Linguistics, the National Council of Teachers of English, the College Language Association, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the Linguistics Society of America, the International Writing Centers Association, and the annual TESOL Convention.
- Dana Driscoll
- David Hanauer
- Gian Pagnucci
- Gloria Park
- Curt Porter
- Matthew Vetter
- Daniel Weinstein
- CAL Affiliate Faculty