Admission Requirements
Admissions
To gain admission to the Ed.D. program, prospective students must hold a master’s degree program (at time of final admission), a minimum 3.0/4.0 GPA for graduate level coursework, and at least 3-5 years of professional experience in an educational setting. Applications for admission must include the following: a completed departmental application, three letters of references attesting to the applicant’s potential for success as an administrator, and a writing sample. Program faculty members will review applications and select students for admission to the Ed.D. program.
Preliminary Examinations
Students will attain candidacy status after successful completion of their preliminary examinations. Preliminary examinations will cover content and knowledge applicable to educational administration generally and within the context of the P-12 and Higher Education Tracks as applicable to each student as determined by program faculty. The Educational Administration and Higher Education program will offer examinations twice each year during the fifth week of the fall and spring semesters.
Students must submit an application requesting to take preliminary examinations. Prior to submitting an application, students should complete all or most of their coursework including research courses, have identified the topic area for their capstone, and attain the approval of the faculty advisor of their capstone project. Any student who fails the examination on during the first attempt will have up to two additional opportunities to take and successfully pass the examination. If students fail to successfully complete all parts of the preliminary examination, EAHE will dismiss those students from the program.
Admission to Candidacy
A student may advance to candidacy after completing the courses required as part of the Doctoral Seminars, Professional Core I, Research Core, fulfilling the residency requirements established by the Graduate School, and passing all elements of the Preliminary Examinations. The capstone advisor should complete the advance to candidacy forms and forward them to the Dean of the Graduate School or his/her designee. The Graduate School will not confer the doctoral degree less than six months after admission to candidacy without specific approval of the Dean of the Graduate School or his/her designee.