博士学位通常在语音，语音，形态，句法，语义，历史语言学，非洲语言学，计算语言学，应用语言学（包括第二语言习得）和社会语言学等领域追求。经部门批准，还可以进行其他方向的学习，包括与认知科学相结合的学位。至少90个学分，包括学位论文。具体要求包括语音，语音，语法，历史语言学，社会语言学和语言习得各一门研究生课程，以及至少四门600-700级的语言学课程，其中一门对于一般语言学的学生必须为L642或L643 。如果L653用于部分满足语言结构要求，则L653（现场方法序列的前半部分）可能不算在内。额外的课程要求
Ph.D. students in the Department of Linguistics build on coursework to establish themselves as experts in specific areas of language investigation. An unusual feature of the linguistics program at Indiana University is the requirement of a substantive minor outside of the department, which enables each student to form research relationships with faculty outside the department. Students are commonly on the ground floor of creating cross-disciplinary research agendas, opening up new ways of looking at language. Since the doctoral program is one of the largest in the nation, students develop expertise in many different areas, ranging from acoustics to speech motor control, to logic and discourse representation, from how languages adapt words from other languages to how speakers adopt patterns to move across language groups, from grammatical theory to learning a second language. The Ph.D. teaches a wide range of skills in research and teaching that enable graduates to move smoothly into postdocs or tenure-track positions.