What UNIVERSITY FEATURES attract graduate students?

• UW’s location is convenient and appealing.

  • Laramie is an appealing community with a small population, low crime rate, and extensive access to outdoor recreation opportunities; and

  • Wyoming offers tremendous diversity in geography and people.

• UW is an affordable choice. 

  • Tuition is reasonable;

  • Laramie generally has a low cost of living; and

  • UW offers a wide variety of support.

• Extracurricular activities found at UW and in the community. 

  • The University offers N.C.A.A. Division 1 athletic programs, such as football and women’s and men’s basketball;

  • The University offers a variety of intramural sports; and

  • There are a wide variety of mountain activities available close by such as hiking, skiing, bouldering/climbing and snow shoeing.

• UW is a relatively small university.

  • class sizes are small and reasonable; and

  • UW offers much individualized support, such as extensive experience, mentoring, and close contact with the professors and committee members.

• UW is a research-extensive university.

  •  UW has a reputation as a research university which has implications later when looking to find employment.

What PROGRAM FEATURES attract graduate students?

• Graduate assistantships.

• Philosophical Alignment.

  • UW’s College of Education’s Conceptual Framework  emphasizes:

  • developing competent professionals;

  • promoting democratic, socially-just education pedagogy and practice; and

  • utilizing various approaches to and definitions of education.

• Flexible Educational Opportunities.

  • The courses offered at UW provide a breadth and depth of knowledge that supplements student research and interests.

  • The program features both quantitative and qualitative research methods;

  • it encourages the exploration of educational interests; and

  • it balances tapping into current credentials and fostering new areas of interest.

• Professional Preparation.

  • The program offers many unique features such as:

  • Opportunities for teaching and research experience prior to dissertation;

  • The ability to develop and maintain close ties with educators and policymakers from throughout the state; and

  • the ability to conduct research in Wyoming communities. 

• Diverse Course Delivery Methods. 

  • The program offers a variety of courses that can be completed through outreach courses or summer sessions.

•  Student cohorts. 

  • Students are recruited in small cohorts.

  • This provides a peer support network and a cooperative, rather than competitive, environment; and

  • this builds collaborative networks that extend beyond graduation.

• Meaningful research. 

  • Students are encouraged to develop research programs that are meaningful to them.

  • Students are encouraged to bring research ideas and projects with them to the department;

  • students are encouraged to develop relevant, current research agenda; and

  • student experiences, professional and personal, matter to the C&I faculty.

What about the FACULTY attracts graduate students?

• Program/Department Research and Reputation. 

  • C&I faculty are leaders in their respective fields. 

  • Faculty have published innovative work and are eager to continue learning themselves;

  • they are respected nationally throughout their fields by other leaders;

  • they participate in regional and national events/conferences;

  • they demonstrate enthusiasm for their field; and

  • they see themselves as teachers as much as researchers. 

• Experience.

  • Faculty bring a tremendous variety of research interests and professional experiences to the department.

  • They have experience with people or events behind the research that most experience from reading; and

  • they will likely have experience with student research approaches

• Strong relationship between faculty and students.

  • There is a careful match of professors and graduate students;

  • Faculty represent a wide variety of research interest areas, leading to much compatibility in areas of interest;

  • Experienced faculty offer quality advice/guidance in developing a program of study, as well as mentorship in research, writing, and professional service.

• Opportunities for collaborative Ph.D. research with faculty. 

  • The C&I program engages graduate students with a mentor-professor in a research/writing context:

  • It provides opportunities to learn to write scholarly articles with professors so that many graduate students depart from the program as published authors; and

  • faculty are often willing to share with graduate students their own research.