Doctor of Education in Adult and Higher Education

Check departmental information for any additional requirements.

The Ed.D. program in adult and higher education provides a flexible system of professional study with course work in areas of instruction, administration, and research to prepare both generalists and specialists in the field. Doctoral students in adult and higher education prepare for leadership roles in a variety of adult and higher education endeavors. Adult and higher education can be formal or informal, traditional or nontraditional, and embraces such areas as adult basic education, adult English as a second language, human resource development, continuing professional education, community education, and higher education.

The student learning outcomes for this degree are located at http://www.niu.edu/assessment/clearinghouse/outcomes/index.shtml.

Application Deadlines

Admission to the doctoral program in adult and higher education is competitive and takes place once a year in the spring. Students are admitted for the fall semester. All materials must be received by the Graduate School and the Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education no later than February 1.

Admission

Admission to the doctoral program requires a master’s degree either in adult and higher education or in another discipline acceptable to the admissions committee. Three letters of recommendation are required from professors, employers, or supervisors who can provide supportive evidence of an applicant’s professional qualifications and potential. Each applicant must submit a writing sample (e.g., scholarly paper, professional report) of which the applicant is the sole author. Ordinarily, an interview with the adult and higher education admissions committee is required. The faculty reserves the right to request additional evidence of potential such as assessment letters from adult and higher education faculty. Applicants must contact the admissions committee chair about additional requirements.

An applicant may submit MAT scores in lieu of the GRE scores. Students who have successfully completed a master’s degree at an accredited institution may have the GRE requirement waived upon successfully completing two NIU adult and higher education courses and having an assessment letter written by each instructor.

Student-at-Large, Study-Abroad, and Transfer Credit

A maximum of 15 student-at-large semester hours of post-master’s course work taken at NIU or at another university may be transferred into a student’s doctoral degree program. See “Requirements for Graduate Degrees” for limitation on study-abroad credit.