Ed.D.Educational Leadership

The Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership is a competitive and rigorous professional doctoral program for educators working in leadership positions and preparing to enter senior-level leadership. As a member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), WCU has been actively engaged in rethinking and redesigning the professional doctorate in education so it can maximize its effectiveness for participants. The program offers two concentrations: Community College Leadership and P-12 Leadership. This program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (formerly NCATE) and authorized by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to offer superintendent licensure as a sub-concentration.

What You'll Learn

The Doctor of Education Degree Program is a 52-hour, cohort program. Cohorts begin the program in the summer, progress through a nine semester sequence of leadership and research courses meeting one weekend monthly at the WCU Biltmore Park campus in Asheville, with continuous work online and in workplace laboratories of practice. The program culminates with a disquisition—a written and oral presentation of the three-year improvement project. Applicants admitted to the P-12 Leadership concentration who intend to complete the requirements for a Superintendent’s license must have earned a Principal’s license prior to being admitted to the program.

Where You'll Go

The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership will prepare you to work in an educational environment as a senior level leader, such as a superintendent, community college leader, or in a variety of other leadership roles. Public school superintendents in North Carolina made an average salary of $156,000 in 2013. For community college leaders the Bureau of Labor Statistics states the average salary is $86,490 and predicts 15% growth in the field by 2022.