Doctor of Education in Higher Education

The Ed.D. program in higher education provides a sequenced program with course work in areas of instruction, educational policy, administration, and research to prepare both generalists and specialists in the field. Doctoral students in higher education prepare for leadership and teaching roles in a variety of adult and higher education contexts including student affairs, academic affairs, and other areas of higher education administration.

The student learning outcomes for this degree are located here.

Application Deadlines

Admission to the doctoral program in 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, Higher Education and Student Affairs no later than March 1.

Admission

Admission to the doctoral program requires a master’s degree either in adult education, higher education, student affairs 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 resume/CV and written goals statement. An interview with the higher education admissions committee may be required. The faculty reserves the right to request additional evidence of potential such as assessment letters from higher education faculty. Applicants must contact the admissions committee chair about additional requirements.

Simultaneous Enrollment in Ed.D. and J.D. Degree Programs

The Department of Counseling and Higher Education and the College of Law offer the opportunity for simultaneous enrollment in the Doctor of Education in Higher Education (Ed.D.) and Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree programs to qualified graduate students. Students must be admitted to both the Ed.D. program and the J.D. program. Matriculation in the two programs must be within 18 months of each other.

Since students enroll in two separate degree programs, to receive both degrees students must meet all of the graduation requirements for both degree programs. A student may obtain either degree prior to completing all requirements for the other degree. Under the simultaneous enrollment plan, students are required to take at least 126 total semester hours, 78 from the College of Law and 48 from the Department of Counseling and Higher Education. Up to 36 semester hours of College of Law coursework may be applied toward the 84 semester hours required for the Ed.D. degree, and up to 12 semester hours of Ed.D. course work with a grade of B or better may be applied toward the 90 semester hours required for the J.D. degree.

Students should begin their coursework in Higher Education during a fall semester. During each semester in which students plan to take courses in the Higher Education program, they must enroll in two courses and follow the outlined course sequence throughout their program.

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

Students-at-large are normally prohibited from registering for higher education Ed.D. courses. Transfer students will be considered on a case-by-case basis and can transfer in a maximum of 9 semester hours into a student’s doctoral degree program. See “Requirements for Graduate Degrees” for limitation on study-abroad credit.