Description of Program
The Doctor of Education degree program is designed for professionals who seek to lead improvements in practice within educational organizations. You will integrate theoretical constructs into your considerations of complex professional problems, developing strategies, tactics, and policies not only to improve practice and ensure regulatory compliance, but also with attention to issues of equity, inclusion, social justice, and ethical conduct.
Please be advised that this program is NOT accredited in Kentucky by the Education Professional Standards Board and is NOT recognized for initial, additional, or renewal of certification or salary enhancement (rank change) for P-12 educators in Kentucky. For more information, please visit the Education Professional Standards Board’s website at http://www.epsb.ky.gov/mod/page/view.php?id=12.
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Note: The program sequence below is open to new students and re-entry students gone more than 365 days only. Students who enrolled prior to April 1, 2019 must continue in the program sequence as stated in the catalog under which they enrolled.
Learning Outcomes
- Recommend policies advancing equity and social justice in educational organizations
- Select ethical and regulatory compliant actions supporting the mission and vision of organizations
- Develop leadership skills through the integration of theoretical constructs with professional practice
- Create strategic and tactical plans to improve organizations
- Construct theory-informed decisions for addressing complex problems of practice
Basis for Admissions
Admission to the Doctor of Education program requires a conferred post-baccalaureate master’s degree and/or doctoral degree from a regionally or nationally accredited academic institution. Examples of acceptable doctoral degrees include doctor of philosophy (PhD), and doctor of education (EdD).
In addition to general requirements for admission to an EdD program, applicants to the EdD program with specialization in Nursing Education must provide a copy of the following:
- A valid and active RN license from the United States
- A master’s degree in nursing (MSN)
Degree Requirements
The EdD Program requires 48 credits for degree completion. Students who choose the Nursing Education specialization must take two additional specialization courses for a total of 54 credit hours. Additional credit hours may be allowed as needed to complete the dissertation research. If granted, additional courses will be added to the student degree program in alignment with the SAP and Academic Maximum Time to Completion policies. Students who do not complete their program in accordance with these policies may be dismissed.
- Individuals with a previously completed master’s degree will meet the basis of admission to the Doctor of Education Program.
- Doctoral courses are comprised of methods, the pre-candidacy prospectus, and the dissertation with a Grade Point Average of 3.00 (B) or higher.
- EdD students must demonstrate competency in specific subject areas prior to enrolling in any of the specialization or elective courses.
The University may accept a maximum of 12 semester credit hours in transfer toward the doctoral degree for graduate coursework completed toward a doctoral degree at an accredited college or university with a grade of “B” or better. Transfer credit is only awarded for course work that is evaluated to be substantially equivalent in content with the required course work for the EdD program. See the Transfer Credit policy for additional information.
Note: Students who complete the University’s EdS program may be eligible to apply up to 30 credits from the EdS program to the Sanford College of Education’s Doctoral programs. School Dean (or their designee) approval is required to determine number of applicable credit hours from EdS to the selected doctoral program.
Dissertation Completion Pathway
The University’s mission is dedicated to assisting students in achieving their academic aspirations and helping them become valuable contributors to their community and profession. To support our mission, the University now offers a dissertation completion pathway for students who have successfully completed their doctoral coursework and achieved doctoral candidacy at a previous institution but were unable to complete their dissertation. The University’s Dissertation Completion Pathway (DCP) offers a unique opportunity for students to complete their doctorate in one of the doctoral programs offered at the University (excluding the PhD in MFT, DMFT, DNP, and DHA). Students successfully meeting the entrance and application requirements will complete a minimum of 23 credit hours to earn their doctorate.
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Time to Completion
The University allows 7 years to complete all doctoral programs of 60 credits or less.
The median time to completion for this program is 33 months (36 months for Nursing Education specialization).
Time to completion varies depending upon the pace in which a student completes courses and the number of transfer credits accepted. As most students are working adults, balancing educational, professional, and personal commitments, our academic and finance advisors will work with you to develop a program schedule that works best for your needs.
Students following the preferred schedule designed by the Dean for this program, and applying no transfer credits, can expect to finish in as little as 33 months (36 months for Nursing Education specialization).
Certification and Licensing
The Sanford College of Education serves educational leaders by providing online graduate studies in education to reach worldwide populations. The EdD program is designed to reach national and international markets and does not purport to provide licensure or certification in any particular state or country.
Dissertation Process
Faculty assists each Doctoral student to reach this high goal through a systematic process leading to a high-quality completed dissertation. This process requires care in choosing a topic, documenting its importance, planning the methodology, and conducting the research. These activities lead smoothly into the writing and oral presentation of the dissertation.
A doctoral candidate must be continuously enrolled throughout the series of dissertation courses. Dissertation courses are automatically scheduled and accepted without a break in scheduling to ensure that students remain in continuous enrollment throughout the dissertation course sequence. If additional time is required to complete any of the dissertation courses, students must re-enroll and pay the tuition for that course. Continuous enrollment will only be permitted when students demonstrate progress toward completing dissertation requirements. The Dissertation Committee determines progress.
Course Sequence
The Doctor of Education (EdD) program emphasizes an applied, project based approach to development of appreciable improvements in the body of educational practice. The EdD attracts individuals who are primarily professional administrators either at the PK-12 level or the higher education level. (Deans, enrollment managers, superintendents, principals, teacher leaders, and education faculty who primarily teach - not do research, educational consultants, trainers in organizations). EdD research focuses on solving a problem in the workplace or in the professional field of education and results in a dissertation, but also produces a “product” or solution. This degree is also intended to help students increase their own workplace Leadership Skills. For EdD students, all the statistics they will need is embedded into the Research Courses. An oral presentation of the dissertation is required.
All foundation competency courses, specialization courses, and method coursework must be completed prior to students entering into the Comprehensive Assessment. Upon successful completion of the Doctoral Comprehensive Assessment: Pre-Candidacy Prospectus, students become official Doctoral Candidates and may move onward to the dissertation coursework which is completed sequentially.
In the Doctor of Education, specializations such as Curriculum and Teaching (CT), Early Childhood Education (ECE), Educational Leadership (EL), English Language Learning (ELL), Instructional Leadership (IL), Special Education (SE), and Sport Management (SM) have a curriculum focused on the PK-12 environment.
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