Central Michigan University

Ed.D. in Educational Leadership

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The Educational Leadership Doctoral Program at CMU is unique in that it provides substantial amounts of skill refinement, in addition to building an advanced knowledge base. The Ed.D. degree in Educational Leadership is designed to prepare individuals seeking careers as educational leaders at school sites, in school districts, at institutions of higher learning, or in state- or national-level policy making and implementation roles.

CMU is large enough to provide a full range of services, yet small enough to provide personal attention to graduate students in Educational Leadership. The program includes a core of required courses and electives. With the assistance of an advisor, students personalize cognate and concentration course offerings and field experiences to their own professional goals. The capstone experience, the dissertation, allows students to pursue an original research project that will add to the body of knowledge and practice of educational leadership.

Concentration offerings include:

• K-12 Leadership
• K-12 Curriculum
• Higher Education Administration
• Educational Technology

Admission Requirements

In order to be considered for admission to the program, an applicant must have completed a master's degree with a minimum graduate GPA of 3.5 and must have completed three years of professional educational experience. (Preference will be given to those with administrative leadership experience.)

Review of completed applications begins March 1 and continues until the cohort is filled. A completed application packet will include:

1. Completed graduate application;
2. Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work;
3. Resume of professional education experience;
4. Graduate Records Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT) scores;
5. Short essay describing the relationship between the applicant's professional goals and the Ed.D. program;
6. Description of a professional problem the applicant has encountered and an analysis of the resolution of that problem; and
7. Three letters of recommendation that attest to the applicant's potential to succeed in the program.

After a holistic review of the credentials of the applicants, the Doctoral Program Committee will select those to be interviewed.

The Doctoral Committee will select participants for the cohort from those interviewed. Preference will be given to those applicants who have a demonstrated history of educational leadership and who have career goals consistent with the expectations of this program.