Harding - Education - Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership

Cannon-Clary College of Education

What is the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership?

Harding University’s Ed.D. in Educational Leadership degree is a 39-credit hour program that is designed to prepare its candidates for academic, administrative, and other professional roles. Viable applicants must complete specific pre-requisites before applying to the program and must decide which track for which they qualify:

Track 1 (Educational Leadership Ed.D. with an emphasis in P-20 Education Leadership)

Hold a master’s degree and have completed or be within six hours of completing a program of study (24 credit hours minimum above a master’s degree) for a district-level license in leadership from a regionally accredited college/university.
Hold a minimum of an initial building-level administrative license in leadership. Some building-level administrative experience is preferable but not required.

Track 2 (Educational Leadership Ed.D. with an emphasis in Higher Education Leadership)

Complete or be within six hours of completing 60 credit hours above a bachelor’s degree that includes 600/6000-level courses or above. Applicants coming with credit hours or a degree above their bachelor’s degree must submit their transcripts for review by the program director. After a transcript evaluation, applicants will be given a crafted plan that outlines any remaining coursework required, if applicable. Applicants enter with the understanding that not all of the classwork might substitute or satisfy the requirements for entry into the doctoral program. In addition, courses taken as part of the 60-credit hour requirement cannot be counted toward the 39-credit hour doctoral degree.
Some professional work experience is preferable but not required.

What courses are required?

The Ed.D. program consists of 39 hours, a proposal defense, a written dissertation, and a dissertation defense. Please see the curriculum plan for more information.

Ed.D. in Educational Leadership Curriculum Plan pdf

Curriculum Map if Entering Fall 2018 pdf

Curriculum Map if Entering Fall 2019 pdf

Curriculum Map if Entering Fall 2020 pdf

For current course schedules, please see the Semester Course Schedules on the Graduate Programs home page.

For additional information about this program, you may want to consult the Catalog.