Return to: School of Education and Human Development: Degree Programs
All Ed.D. programs in the School of Education and Human Development are designed to prepare scholar/practitioners to assume leadership or supervisory roles in their educational fields, or work as faculty members in higher education institutions. The primary purpose of the Ed.D. in Higher Education is to provide experienced and practicing educators with a broad and systematic understanding of higher education, a definitive knowledge of selected aspects of educational theory and practice, and an ability to apply research in an informed and critical manner to educational practice and problems.
Ed.D. students in Higher Education complete a program of study totaling 72 credits consisting of a minimum of 60 hours of coursework, including a required higher education core (12 credits), additional coursework in research methods (18 credits), a content minor organized around a theme or set of questions of the student’s choice (12 credits), and elective courses in higher education (12 credits). Students will choose their content minor with the advice and consent of their advisors. Courses for the content minor may be taken outside of the program and the School of Education and Human Development (EHD). Typical content minor areas include student affairs, higher education policy, the organization and governance of higher education, the economics of higher education, and the social foundations of higher education.
Students entering the doctoral program with a master’s degree can apply up to 24 hours of credit to their doctoral program, provided that the program area faculty judges that the courses are sufficiently comparable to substitute for courses offered in the doctoral program.
