Educational Leadership, Ed.D.

Contact Information

Program Description

The Doctorate (EdD) in Educational Leadership is a 45+ hour post-master’s professional degree for qualified candidates who wish to pursue the terminal degree in Educational Leadership. The program is designed to further develop experienced leaders in the areas of school improvement, strategic planning and institutional development, and other areas of critical need for the twenty-first century. The EdD program is designed to build candidates’ critical understanding and expert use of transformational leadership skills. Our goal is to develop school leaders who integrate thoughtful, globally minded leadership practices with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of effective educational leaders.  

Admission Requirements

The following are requirements beyond the general Graduate Admissions  requirements.

• Completed application and GRE scores (Unofficial scores accepted with application) and transcripts 
• Earned Educational Specialist in education or a related field 
• Georgia PL-6 or L-6 or Tier II Certificate, or comparable certificate from another state in keeping with Georgia reciprocity agreements and as outlined by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) 
• Current full-time employment as a professional educator with at least five years of teaching and/or administrative experience in P-12 education 
• Graduate Aptitude & Achievement Index Score of at least 3500 (Graduate Index Score = GRE Quantitative Score plus GRE Verbal Score times GPA for all post-master’s work. Example = GRE 
  combined score of 1000 x 3.5 g.p.a. = Index score of 3500) 

Admissions Criteria for Unique Cases

Currently there are no exceptions to the admissions requirements.

Transfer Credit

Ed.D. may accept up to 6 hours of approved credit.  

Transfer credit will not be accepted for the core course requirements that are central to the program’s distinctive focus. Consequently, transfer credit considerations will typically be restricted to courses in the concentration, guided electives, and the initial course in applied research methods. Decisions about the acceptability of transfer credit will be made on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by the concentration advisor and Director of the Doctoral and Specialists Programs.

Petition to Graduate

Each candidate must petition to graduate. For more information, please view the corresponding section of Academic Policies .

Program of Study