Doctor of Education

The Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) is an online program.

The program offers students, who have demonstrated superior scholastic ability and special interest and aptitude in educational leadership areas of adult and higher education leadership, P-12 administrative leadership, educational technology leadership, and exceptional child leadership to gain an advanced level degree within the field. This Doctor of Education program will help prepare students to become practitioner educational leaders. Doctoral candidates should consult the Ed.D. Handbook for additional information. 

Admission Requirements

The application/admission process is a TWO-part process:

1. The applicant will complete and submit an application to the Graduate School with accompanying items listed below. The application will initially be reviewed by Ed.D. faculty. To choose the most outstanding applicants, the Ed.D. admission committee will make selections based on a holistic evaluation of the candidate's application file including:
   1. General admission to graduate study (for criteria, refer to Admission to Graduate Study).
   2. Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate non-Morehead State University coursework.
   3. Documentation of a master's degree from an institution accredited by a nationally recognized accreditation body.
   4. Resume or vita documenting years of related professional/leadership or educational technology, instructional design and training experience.
   5. Letter of introduction/interest stating professional goals, leadership style and educational philosophy.
   6. Recommendation Letters: at least three reference letters are required from persons in positions to evaluate the applicant's potential for success in a doctoral program. At least one letter should be completed by a person who is or has been in a supervisory role or relationship with the applicant. Other letters should be completed by persons in positions to evaluate the applicant's professional or academic attributes. Recommendation letters may not come from MSU Ed.D. faculty. Recommendation letters should either be mailed directly to the Graduate School (701 Ginger Hall, Morehead, KY 40351) or emailed to [e-mail]. All recommendation letters must be on letterhead and be signed.
   7. GRE, Miller Analogies Test (MAT), or GMAT scores including GRE writing score or on-demand writing sample (test scores optional).
   8. International students and ESL students must meet university minimum TOEFL score or its equivalent.
2. After the initial review, students who are considered likely potential candidates will be provided the opportunity to submit an on-demand writing sample and will be interviewed by an admissions committee composed of at least three members, two of which must be Ed.D. faculty.

The deadline to submit all admission materials is April 1. Potential candidates will be invited to perform on-demand writing and engage in interviews during the last two weeks of April.

Program Competencies

After completing the program, candidates in the Educational Leadership Ed.D. program will:

1. Support current and aspiring educational leaders who are seeking opportunities for educational advancement while providing ongoing day-to-day leadership.
2. Strengthen partnerships between educational organizations and universities in order to bring about improved achievement and learning.
3. Mine the rich data resources that are currently available in the educational settings and assist participants in making data-driven decisions.
4. Use current technologies to deliver content, facilitate discussions, share data and provide alternative forms of instruction that provide flexibility for practitioners to be involved in advanced educational study.
5. Incorporate field-based components and activities in each of the required courses thereby enabling candidates to design, test and analyze solutions to authentic challenges faced by today's school leaders.
6. Incorporate performance-driven participant assessments that demonstrate advanced knowledge and skill in authentic settings.

Assessment

The above competencies will be measured on three levels. This first level will be a measurement of competencies at the individual course level. Each course syllabus will have built-in individualized assessment measures. The second level of measurement will occur as a qualifying examination that will be required of candidates to pass before moving on to the capstone project. The third measurement will be the capstone project that will be required of students in order to complete the program.

Requirements for the Degree

1. Students must satisfy all degree requirements.
2. Students must successfully complete and defend a qualifying examination to enroll in EDD 899 capstone courses and continue within the doctoral program.
3. Student must successfully complete and defend a doctoral capstone.
4. Students must apply for graduation at the beginning of the term in which all requirements will be completed. Students can access the online completion forms at https://www.moreheadstate.edu/academics/academic-affairs/registrar/applying-for-graduation.
5. Students must maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all courses taken.
6. Students must be unconditionally admitted. If a student is not unconditionally admitted after completing 12 graduate hours, he/she will not be permitted to register for additional credit hours.
7. Students are encouraged to complete the program within the cohort time limit. The maximum allowed time for completion is 10 years.
8. No more than 18 hours of previously completed post-master's credit may be permitted to be transferred from other universities.
9. No more than 24 hours of previously completed post-master's work from MSU may be counted in the Ed.D. program.