This nationally recognized Ph.D. program emphasizes informed, ethical decision making in the administration of higher education. It is intended to launch its graduates into new areas and/or higher levels of leadership in colleges and universities. Students take core coursework in higher education foundations, administration, governance and organization, law, and the college student. Each student, in collaboration with her/his advisor, fashions a four course cognate that leads to specialization in an area of personal and professional interest. The sequence of four research courses culminates in a dissertation of original contribution to the knowledge of higher education. Based on a full-time cohort model, the program is designed to be completed in three years.

Dr. Vicki Williams ('02) enjoys the moment with Dr. Robert DeBard during Commencement

All full-time students are employed in a variety of graduate assistantships that both support and supplement the program, and that include a waiver of all tuition and most fees. The Global Understanding Requirement, a unique feature of the program, broadens and diversifies the student’s conception of higher education and how it is influenced by culture and custom.

The program is grounded in the following values:

• A commitment to educational leadership grounded in expressed principles, ideals, ethics, and values;
• A zeal for involvement and advocacy in the higher education profession;
• A holistic perspective of higher education that reflects an understanding of the interests and concerns of the internal campus environment (its faculty, staff, students, and administrators), external constituents (consumers, governmental agents, the public), and the global community;
• Expertise in a discipline-based academic speciality, in addition to a command of a core of professional studies in higher education; appreciation for both quantitative and qualitative tools of inquiry, emphasizing an understanding of their application to an array of problems, challenges, issues, and practices in higher education.