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About the Program

The Ph.D. program in educational leadership is designed for educators who are committed to providing leadership at the elementary, secondary and collegiate levels. The program prepares scholar-practitioners who:

  • Value both speculative and practical knowledge and engage in continuous inquiry
  • Deliberate with colleagues upon organizational purposes and the means for achieving them
  • Work selflessly with others
  • Commit themselves to improving the quality of life within society.
The administration, faculty, and staff take a Catholic Marianist approach to education that includes:

  • Maintaining an environment of intellectual, social, spiritual and emotional growth
  • Modeling reflective practitioner behavior
  • Engaging students in inquiry on the major issues and challenges confronting the profession
  • Supporting foundational research efforts which have implications for social policy
  • Maintaining rigorous academic standards
  • Providing quality classroom instruction
  • Providing and maintaining a spirit of equity in program conduct
  • Conducting interpersonal interactions with integrity and justice.
The program requires 63 credit hours for completion and offers Ph.D. students a choice between concentrations in prekindergarten-grade 12 school administration or higher education administration. Both concentrations require a minimum of 21 semester hours of appropriate courses.

All Ph.D. students must complete a nine-semester hour core program during the first year of enrollment.

Additional requirements include a three-hour foundation course, nine hours of courses in a discipline outside the student's concentration, 12 hours of research courses, a residency and a dissertation (nine credit hours). A total of six hours of independent study is allowed.