Higher Education Administration (HIED)

The Ph.D. program in higher education administration requires the successful completion of a minimum of 63 credit hours of coursework beyond the master’s degree and a global understanding project. The exact number of credit hours will be determined by the student’s program advisor based on a review of previous graduate transcripts, the student’s professional aspiration and personal circumstances, and the Ph.D. requirements of both the HIED program and the Graduate College.

Students who have already completed courses equivalent to those required by the HIED program may, with the permission of their program advisors and the chair of the Department of Higher Education and Student Affairs, substitute those courses for the required courses and complete an equivalent number of credit hours in elective courses. Regardless of course substitutions, all students must complete at least 63 post-master’s credit hours at BGSU.

The minimum 63 credit hours of coursework are allocated as follows:

(Courses are 3 credit hours unless otherwise noted)

Core Courses

HIED 7105: Foundations of Higher Education
This course emphasizes the social foundations of higher education as well as the history, curriculum, and philosophy. [sample syllabus]

HIED 7110: Governance and Organization of Higher Education
In this seminar emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of the missions, organizational structures, and governance of institutions of higher education. [sample syllabus]

HIED 7120: Administration of Higher Education
This seminar involves an exploration of the functional areas/skills that contribute to the effective administration of institutions of higher education. Emphasis is placed on planning, leadership, personnel administration, and facility management in the higher education environment. (Prerequisite: HIED 7110 or consent of instructor)

HIED 7210: Law in Higher Education
This course emphasizes the legal environments of postsecondary institutions, legal processes and analyses, and problems incurred in the administration of colleges and universities.

HIED 7310: Postsecondary Students in the U.S.
This course offers a comprehensive overview of postsecondary students in the U.S. from the perspective of demographic, psychological, and cultural differences; patterns of growth and change during the college years; and the expected educational outcomes of college attendance.

Cognate Courses
Twelve credit hours of coursework must be completed in a required disciplinary or interdisciplinary cognate area selected by the student in concert with and approval by the program advisor. The cognate is an area of specialization developed through completion of a sequence of related courses designed to add depth to the student's doctoral program. It may be completed in one graduate academic unit or a combination of departments, schools, or colleges within the university. 

A maximum of three credit hours earned in practicum/internship or independent study/directed readings courses may be applied to the cognate. The remaining nine credit hours must be associated with formal classroom instruction. Credit hours earned in other courses required by the HIED program (e.g., core courses or research methodology courses) may not be counted toward the cognate.

Cognates selected by current and past doctoral students:

Research Methodology Courses

EDFI 7510: Advanced Quantitative Methods in Education I
Theoretical and philosophical constructs in research designs and projects; formulation and critique of research proposals; statistical inference and application of selected techniques (basic research designs, chi-square, F-statistics, measures of relationships, covariance analyses, and other topics). (Taken concurrently with EDFI 6410: Statistics in Education or exemption from advisor) [sample syllabus]

EDFI 7520: Advanced Quantitative Methods in Education II
Continuation of EDFI 7510; second semester of a two-semester course sequence. (Prerequisite: EDFI 7510)

HIED 7510: Qualitative Research Problems and Methods in Higher Education
An examination of alternative paradigms and methods of research in higher education with a comprehensive overview of extant models, including naturalistic inquiry, case study, and ethnography, and their application to problems and practices in higher education. [sample syllabus]

HIED 7520: Issues and Methods of Applied Inquiry in Higher Education
This course focuses on research methods used by higher education administrators and emphasizes the application of data or information to the processes of decision-making and policy formulation. (Prerequisites: EDFI 7510, EDFI 7520, HIED 7510) [sample syllabus]

Dissertation Seminar and Research

HIED 7800: Graduate Seminar in Higher Education: Dissertation Seminar
This two-semester course is designed to help students prepare for the dissertation process and should be completed during the last year of coursework. Selection of research topics/methods, selection of committee chairs/members, and steps in the dissertation completion process are emphasized. (1 credit hour each –fall and spring)

HIED 7990: Dissertation Research
Students must maintain continuous registration in this course while they are completing their dissertations. A minimum of 16 credit hours of HIED 7990 is required for the Ph.D. (variable credit hours)

The BGSU Thesis and Dissertation Handbook has more information about writing a dissertation, including a helpful checklist. 

Global Understanding Requirement
This program requirement is intended to assist students in developing a holistic perspective of higher education through knowledge of its internal and external constituents within the global community. 

To complete this requirement students must demonstrate an understanding of a non-U.S. culture (international students must select a culture other than their own) and the effects of that culture on its system of postsecondary education. Students must work with their program advisors, preferably during their first semester in the HIED program, to develop their plans for completing their global awareness projects. Project proposals must be approved by the student’s advisor and the HESA chair. Completed projects must be summarized in oral presentations that integrate art, music, film, or other cultural expressions and that demonstrate an understanding of how the cultures examined affect institutions of higher education. Projects must be completed, presented, and approved prior to preliminary examinations.

Students may fulfill the global understanding requirement by taking a course for credit, integrating their projects into existing courses, completing independent studies, studying abroad, completing internships in other cultures, or using alternative means (creativity and ingenuity are encouraged) to gather information and then present their findings to an audience composed of students, faculty, and friends of the HIED program. The following are the most common ways in which students have pursued their global understanding of higher education:

• Completion of EDFI 7010: Comparative Higher Education – Analysis of worldwide higher education systems. [sample syllabus]
• Completion of internships or study abroad programs at universities in other countries. If students choose this option, they must immerse themselves in the cultures selected for a minimum of one month.
• Independent study of a particular culture and the influences of that culture on higher education. Perspectives taken may be historical, sociological, religious, economic, etc.

Visit the HIED Global Understanding Component website for additional information and examples of past internships. 

Departmental Electives
The following courses have been offered by the HESA program as electives. In some cases, a HIED elective course may be used as a required cognate course. A maximum of three credit hours for independent study/directed readings or practicum/internship may be included in the cognate. Although additional elective courses (including independent study/directed readings and practicum/internship courses) may not be included in the minimum 63 credit hour requirement for the HIED program, they may be recommended by program advisors to students who have relevant interests and/or who need additional credit hours to fulfill minimum enrollment requirements for students with graduate assistantships (12 credit hours during the fall and spring semesters and nine credit hours during the summer term). Students may select electives from all graduate courses at the university.

CSP 6010: Foundations and Functions of College Student Personnel
CSP 6020: Theory and Assessment of College Student Development
CSP 6030: Theory and Assessment of Educational Environments
CSP 6035: Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs
CSP 6040: Educational Outcomes of American Colleges and Universities
CSP 6050: Capstone Seminar in College Student Personnel
HIED 7100: Issues in Higher Education
HIED 7130: Organization & Administration of the Two-Year College
HIED 7200: Curriculum in Higher Education
HIED 7240: Budget Administration in Higher Education
HIED 7300: Leadership in Higher Education
HIED 7320: Planning in Higher Education
HIED 7330: Women in Higher Education
HIED 7340: College and University Teaching
HIED 7800: Graduate Seminar in Higher Education (1-3 credit hours)
HIED 7840: Advanced Readings in Higher Education (1-3 credit hours)
HIED 7890: Higher Education Administration Internship/Field Experience (1-3 credit hours)
HIED 7900: Directed Research in Higher Education (1-4 credit hours)
HIED 7970: Advanced Practicum in Higher Education (1-3 credit hours)
HIED 7980: Readings for the Preliminary Examination (1-12 credit hours)
EDFI 7010: Comparative Higher Education

Information about official policies and procedures can be found in the official Graduate Catalog of Bowling Green State University. Please consult the catalog for University polices and procedures.