Leadership focused on continuous improvement of PreK-12 education is the theme of the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree program offered through the University of Minnesota. Students completing program requirements earn an Ed.D. degree in Educational Policy and Administration from the University. The Ed.D. is the highest professional degree offered in the field.

This Ed.D. program is specifically designed for experienced administrators, teachers and other educational leaders in PreK-12 schools or whose work directly supports PreK-12 education. It is not an administrative licensure program, although some students pursue PreK-12 administrative licenses concurrently with the Ed.D. The Ed.D. program is designed to enhance the professional knowledge and skills of active PreK-12 practitioners through advanced graduate study, with a strong emphasis on scholarship and the use of research and evaluation methodology to conduct inquiry around problems, issues, and opportunities of PreK-12 policy and practice.

The major features of this program include a cohort model of learning, application of systematic inquiry, concentrations of summer course work, and instruction and advising provided by regular faculty members.

Program Purpose and Overview

Program Requirements
- Required Coursework: 36 credits
- Elective Studies Coursework: 18 credits minimum
- Project/Thesis Credits: 24 credits
- Outside Coursework Credits: 12 credits minimum
- Licensure Coursework

Transfer of Credits in the Ed.D. Program
- General Rules about Credit Transfer
- How to Transfer Credits
- Duplicative Coursework
- Quarter to Semester Conversion

Ed.D. Course Descriptions

General Program Timeline

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Program Requirements

At a minimum, students are required to complete 78 semester credits for the Ed.D. These credits are distributed in the following three categories, described in the sections below: required coursework, elective studies, and project/thesis.

Required Coursework: 36 credits

All students enroll in the same cohort courses at the same time. The cohort learning courses constitute 36 total semester credits: 5 - 6 credits taken each of the three summers, and 4 credits each of the first five fall/spring semesters (see core program and courses described below). During each fall and spring a three credit course will be offered one night each week on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus; a one credit doctoral seminar will be offered also on the Twin Cities campus on days and times to be determined, usually on five Saturdays during a semester.

Students will engage in advanced study of foundations, policies, practices, and critical issues involving PreK-12 educational leadership. Cohort members will also learn the rigors and applications of research and evaluation that support inquiry and continuous improvement. In the doctoral seminars held during the academic year, students examine research, critically review literature, undertake group activities, explore possible project topics, investigate field research designs, and receive faculty advisement.

Elective Studies Coursework: 18 credits minimum

Elective courses, individually chosen by students in consultation with a faculty adviser (usually the cohort director), encourage program participants to undertake in-depth study. Of the 18 elective credits, at least 9 must be new credits taken during the program.

Elective courses are well used to further prepare for the field study, either in content or methodological emphasis. In selecting elective coursework, students should consider the type of methodology that will be used in the field study (e.g., survey, case study, ethnography, advanced quantitative methods). If conducting a survey is anticipated, for example, the faculty will require the student to take a survey research course. Given the scope of research/evaluation designs and methodologies, addressing all such possibilities is not required in your Ed.D. curriculum. Courses that focus on your particular methodology will be part of your elective coursework. Advance planning to schedule these courses may be necessary as some methodology courses are offered only once during the 12 month year.

The remaining 9 elective credits may also be new credits taken during the program or they may be transferred in from previous coursewrk. You may transfer in a maximum of 9 credits taken at the U of M or another accredited institution of higher education. An EdPA faculty advisor must approve all proposed elective coursework that will be included as part of the Ed.D program, whether U of MN or transferred from another accredited institution.

Another consideration in selecting elective coursework is the University of Minnesota graduate school requirement for 12 credits outside the major area. This means 12 credits of coursework outside Educational Policy and Administration. Usually students transfer in 9 outside credits from their masters degree.

The Ed. D schedule does not specify when elective coursework will be taken. Students, in consultation with their EdPA advisors, determine when during the three year coursework sequence additional electives will be taken. This means that sometime during the Fall and/or Spring and/or Summer semesters, students will need to take elective coursework in addition to their cohort-delivered coursework.

Project/Thesis Credits: 24 credits

Candidates for the Ed.D. must complete a major project called a field study (comparable in rigor to a Ph.D. dissertation) which demonstrates the ability to carry out an independent and meaningful study of a problem relevant to the field of PreK-12 educators.

Project, also referred to as "thesis", registration consists of 24 semester credits. Students may register for these credits after advancing to candidacy. Candidacy is achieved after passing the preliminary written and oral examinations. With faculty guidance, each student is expected to design, conduct and interpret a field-based Ed.D. project, culminating in a final oral defense of the written field study document.

Outside Coursework Credits: 12 credits minimum

A minimum of 12 semester graduate credits must be from outside Educational Policy and Administration. These may include up to 9 credits (elective) taken at the U of M or at another accredited graduate institution of higher education prior to beginning the Ed.D. An EdPA faculty advisor must approve all proposed outside coursework that will be included as part of the Ed.D. An EdPA faculty advisor must also approve transfer coursework from other institutions proposed by students to be included as part of the Ed.D.

Licensure Coursework

The one credit courses students may take for administrative licensure are not included as credits toward the doctoral programs in EdPA. Internship credits also are not included. The three credit, graduate level courses taken for licensure may be included if approved by an EdPA faculty advisor.

Transfer of Credits into the Ed.D. Program

With the approval of a faculty adviser, the department's Director of Graduate Studies, and Graduate School, graduate degree program course work taken at the University of Minnesota and other recognized graduate institutions (as part of a master’s program, for example), may be applied toward the Ed.D. degree, provided the credits earned 1) meet criteria expressed in the Graduate School Catalog, 2) closely match the planned program emphasis, and 3) are approved by the adviser. Students should discuss with their cohort director or other faculty advisers the possible use of these credits for elective or outside program requirements.

Some of the general rules that apply to transfer of credits are below. For specific factors that might be applicable, students should check the details in the Graduate School Catalog <http://www1.umn.edu/commpub/gradindex.html>.

General Rules about Credit Transfer

Department guidelines set a maximum number of 9 semester transfer credits that can be applied to the EdPA Ed.D. Credits taken with 99PRD registration the semester before admission do not count against this limit and may be brought in above the 9 credit limit if approved by and EdPA faculty advisor. In considering transfer coursework, EdPA faculty may require review of the respective course syllabus. Note: for students who are admitted in a semester prior to the formal initiation of an Ed.D. cohort (e.g., summer semester), courses taken for graduate credit at the U of MN can count above the 9 credit transfer, if approved by an EdPA advisor.

Graduate level courses taken before the award of the baccalaureate degree cannot be transferred.

Transfer courses can be brought in from a combination of the following (note: the Graduate School allows a maximum of 12 semester credits from any combination of 1b., 2. and 3. below):

1) Other recognized graduate schools (see GS Catalog for details);

1a. Completed degrees
1b. Uncompleted degrees

2) Adult special, summer session, and College of Continuing Education credits at the University of Minnesota that were completed before spring 2001. Such registrations taken spring semester 2001 or after will not be accepted for transfer.

3) 99PRD registrations at the University of Minnesota.

Note: Although the Graduate School places a transfer limit of 12 semester credits for previous non-degree or incomplete degree course work (i.e., 1b. – 3 above), the department will accept only 9 semester credits of 1-3 above. These 9 credits are in addition to the 99PRD credits that may have been taken the term immediately before admission.

How to Transfer Credits

Once approved by a faculty advisor, credits are transferred by listing the courses on the Graduage School degree program form. Credits that are not approved as part of a student's degree program cannot be transferred to the Graduate School transcript. Official transcripts of the work must be attached to the degree program form, unless they have already been included in the student's Graduate School file.

Duplicative Coursework

If you have taken coursework that is determined to be duplicative of coursework required in the Ed.D program, you will not be required to re-take the course. You will, however, need to select an additional elective that will serve as substitute credits. NOTE: to be considered "duplicative", the course must have been a 3 credit graduate level course taken at the U of M or another accredited graduate institution of higher education, must cover substantially the same course content, and must reflect a current knowledge base. An EdPA faculty advisor, usually the faculty member who serves as primary instructor for the course being considered duplicative, will make the final determination about whether a course taken previously is "duplicative".

For example, all students must take a three credit graduate level finance course at the university if they have not taken the three-credit graduate level finance course previously. No exceptions will be made regardless of career goals. If students have taken a three-credit graduate level finance course previously, they should indicate to the cohort director they would like to have the course reviewed to see if it is duplicative.

It is important to know that students are accountable for content covered in courses they choose to substitute out of. It is possible such content may be addressed in subsequent preliminary examinations.

Quarter to Semester Conversion

To apply quarter credits to a semester-based program, multiply the number of quarter credits by .67 to obtain semester credits. Semester credits figured at .5 or higher may be rounded up to the nearest whole number.

1 quarter credit = .67 semester credit
2 quarter credits = 1.34 semester credits
3 quarter credits = 2.01 semester credits
4 quarter credits = 2.67 semester credits
5 quarter credits = 3.34 semester credits
6 quarter credits = 4.01 semester credits, etc.

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Ed.D. Course Descriptions

See EdPA Web site for a current list of EdPA course offerings: http://education.umn.edu/EdPA/courses/default.html

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General Program Timeline

The program begins in Summer Session I and is scheduled over three and one-half to four years. Program completion depends on individual rates of student progress. Cohort members typically progress together during coursework but usually vary in progress once independent work toward thesis development begins.

* In preparation for concentrated blocks of instruction during the summers, students will be assigned readings and other work to be completed prior to the initiation of summer classes. These preparatory assignments are usually provided in late April or early May. In addition, final coursework assignments frequently are due two to six weeks after summer classes are completed.

Illustrative Schedule* for Metro III-B

* Specific coursework is subject to change.

** The Oral Preliminary Examination and the Prospectus meeting are scheduled individually as students are ready. It is expected that the actual rate of completion will vary considerably among students.

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