Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership

Standard graduate admission requirements apply.

1. A graduate degree (M.A.) from an accredited college or university
2. A GPA of 3.5 or higher
3. Two recommendations (Only email address required. Our system will ask them to upload their letter.)
   At least 1 (one) from an academic reference, preferably someone who has earned a doctoral degree and serves in an academic institution. The recommendation should speak to your ability to successfully navigate doctoral level coursework and complete independent action research study.
   At least 1 (one) from a professional reference who can speak to your ability to lead, work as a team member, creativity, ability to navigate systems, and manage change within an organization.
4. Completed a graduate-level basic statistics course with a grade of B or higher. 
5. Completed a graduate-level basic statistics course with a grade of B or higher. 
   • Applicants to the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership Studies must understand statistical concepts and the associated reasoning and critical thinking skills with those concepts such that they are prepared for our program’s advanced action research courses. Therefore, applicants demonstrate proficiency in basic statistical concepts and techniques that constitute the foundation of quantitative strands in action research. Students are required to show they have passed a course or met the requirement before August 15 the semester they start classes. Basic descriptive statistics, correlation, normal distributions and hypothesis testing (including correlation and regression) should be covered. An emphasis should be placed on exploratory data analysis and interpretation of results within the broad contexts of education and/or evaluation. You should provide an official course description or syllabus of the course. If you have not taken such a course, you may:
     •  Complete EPE 558 or EDP 558 before August 15th of the year of admission to Educational Leadership Studies. Increasingly, EPE 558 and EDP 558 are being offered online. Applicants and students should check with those departments to determine offerings each semester -OR-
     • Show proof of completion of the following Open Learning Initiative entitled “Statistical Reasoning,” found here: https://oli.cmu.edu/courses/statistical-reasoning-copy/. It’s self-paced and free for independent learners.