Programs

The Doctor of Education degree leads to superintendent's licensure. Applicants should be aware that licensure is controlled by the state. It is the student's responsibility to understand and comply with the state's requirements.

Professional Core (30 credit hours):

• ELP 724 Contemporary Educational Thought or an advanced course in educational philosophy (3)
  
• ELP 728 School Law for the Administrator (3)
• ELP 729 Educational Finance (3)
• ELP 735 Policy Research in Education (3)
• ELP 736 Qualitative Research in Education (3)
• ELP 743 Advanced Quantitative Applications in School Leadership and Policy (3) (may substitute ELP 737 Advanced Qualitative Applications in School Leadership and Policy)
• ELP 720 Cases in Educational Administration (3)
• ELP 742 Applied Research Methods in Education (3)
• ELP 780 Evaluation Theory and Practice in Education (3)
• ELP 789 School Personnel Recruitment, Selection, Development, and Appraisal (3)

Focus Area (12 credit hours):
Collateral area and courses must be approved by the program committee. Students seeking licensure as a superintendent must complete six credit hours of focus area course work plus six credit hours of internship, ELP 851 Internship in Educational Leadership and Program Evaluation (year-long)

Dissertation Research (12 credit hours):

• ELP 891 Problems of Research Design in Education
• ELP 895 Doctoral Dissertation Research (minimum of 12 credit hours)

Enrollment is reserved for personnel working in Durham and Wake counties, North Carolina.

To participate in the doctoral program, a student must have:

• North Carolina's principal's license or be eligible to receive one
• Master's degree
• GRE or MAT scores
• Three letters of reference
• Statement of purpose and career goals
• Resume
• Autobiographical statement
• For non-native speakers of English, Test of English as a Second Language (TOEFL)

Admissions deadline: March 31 (Fall) and October 1 (Spring)

A minimum of 54 credit hours beyond the master's degree is required for the Ed.D. degree. These requirements include: 10 core courses in educational leadership (30 credit hours), two courses outside the department (6 credit hours), a year-long internship for superintendent licensure (6 credit hours) and a dissertation (12 credit hours). Students employed full-time may not enroll for more than 12 credit hours in any one semester.

Offered in face-to-face format to school personnel at sites in Durham and Wake counties in North Carolina. Students are admitted as part of a cohort and remain with that cohort until completion of the program. Please note that enrollment is reserved for personnel working in the designated counties.

Click "How to Apply" to apply for admission or register to take courses. To earn the degree, students must be admitted through NC State's Graduate School. Students must be officially admitted to the Ed.D. program to enroll in doctoral classes.