Educational Studies Ed. D.

The program is designed to accommodate both working adults and full-time graduate students. The Faculty in the School of Teacher Education is committed to providing high quality, flexible learning opportunities. Most classes are in the evening. New students are accepted on the year-around basis. Graduate assistantships are very limited, and we encourage all students to consider external sources of funding such as scholarships and grants. See general admission information on the Graduate School's webpage.

Degree Requirements – 64 credit hours
The Ed.D. in Educational Studies prepares candidates to understand the relationship among research, policy, and practice in education in order to contribute to improving educational systems. Candidates complete an educational studies core, a multidisciplinary cognate, a research core, and complete a dissertation.  The program prepares candidates to assume roles as university faculty members, educational leaders in school districts, as well as state and federal agencies, district level curriculum specialists, and assume leadership roles in non-profit and private sectors.

Educational Studies Core - 12 credit hours

  • EDF 685 Philosophical Foundations of Education (3)
  • EDF 662 Foundations of Curriculum Development & Instructional Practice (3)
  • EDF 670 Introduction to Research Literature (3)
  • EDF 700 Implementation & Evaluation of Curriculum (3), or EDF 790:  Supervised Practicum in College Teaching (3)

Research Core - 12 credit hours
(Coursework completed previously may be substituted for related research courses, within limits allowed by Graduate School)

  • SRM 602 Statistical Methods I (3)
  • SRM 680 Intro to Qualitative Research (3)
  • Qualitative Strand
    • SRM 685 Educational Ethnography (3), AND
    • EDF 601 Discourse Analysis in Language and Literacy Research (3)
  • OR Quantitative Strand
    • SRM 603 Statistical Methods II (3), AND
    • SRM 700 Advanced Research Methods (3)

Candidates complete one cognate - 24 credit hours
A cognate must be multidisciplinary but scholarly coherent.   Candidates will design the cognate with the assistance of their program advisor.

Sample cognates:

  • Curriculum Studies in Secondary Education Settings
  • Curriculum Studies in Elementary Education Settings
  • Reading
  • Social Foundations of Education
  • Bilingual, Multicultural, and ESL Education
  • Educational Research Methods
  • Educational Psychology
  • Educational Technology
  • Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership
  • Educational Leadership
  • Sport Pedagogy
  • Special Education

Dissertation – 16 credit hours

  • EDF 797 Doctoral Proposal Research (4)
  • EDF 799 Dissertation (1-12) (must complete 12 hours)

Other program requirements

1) Scholarly paper requirement:  All doctoral students in this program will be required to complete and submit one publishable paper, prior to completing comprehensive
examinations.  Other research endeavors prior to the dissertation are encouraged.

2) Applicants for this degree must be evaluated by the School of Teacher Education and the Graduate School. An interview with the Program coordinator is required prior to admission.