Doctor of Philosophy

The primary purpose of the Ph.D. program is to prepare students for leadership positions at all levels of education (school administration, research, teaching at the college or university level) through individually designed programs that include course work in related disciplines and research pursuits. Emphasis is placed on the integration of theory and practice in the program. Students are expected to achieve competence in the areas of educational program planning, finance and governance, leadership theory, evaluation, and research methodologies that include statistical methods. They also must gain expertise in areas of specialized program and personnel policy analysis. Commonly selected specialization areas are general administration, elementary school administration, secondary school administration, systems analysis and research, school finance, curriculum, legal aspects, theory, and school personnel.