Higher Education Administration, Ph.D.

Requirements

The purpose of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in higher education administration is to prepare candidates to be successful leaders in post-secondary institutions through visionary planning, strategic utilization of resources, effective management and leadership, and practical application of research.

Goals and Objectives

The vision and values are instilled through the following principles:

Effective institutional leaders will demonstrate knowledge of higher education history and foundations.
Effective institutional leaders will understand legal and ethical issues related to higher education.
Effective institutional leaders will understand the role and importance of curriculum in students’ lives.
Effective institutional leaders will analyze current trends in higher education and understand how it might impact their institutions, faculty, staff, and students.
Effective institutional leaders will understand finance and budgeting, and how to maintain financially solvent institutions.
Effective leaders will understand the importance of the role of the two-year colleges in higher education.
Effective leaders will understand relevant leadership theories and practices in higher education.
Effective leaders will understand how to conduct quality research and use current research to make informed decisions for their institutions.

Admission Requirements

Students are admitted to the Ph.D. program as a cohort class when a sufficient applicant pool is available. Admission requirements are competitive, and no students will be admitted on a provisional or probationary basis. Students may transfer up to nine hours of course credit (including courses transferred into the specialist program) from a regionally accredited institution that has not been used toward a previous degree. The transfer course work must be relevant, comparable, and possess content and instructional rigor equivalent to that offered by WCU’s higher education administration program and approved by the program coordinator and dean of education. Only credits earned with grades of B or higher and no more than six years old at the time of admission may be transferred from another institution into the higher education administration program. Because students earn a specialist degree as they progress through the Ph.D. program, the education specialist degree in higher education administration awarded from William Carey University will be accepted as credit toward the higher education administration doctoral degree.

To fulfill requirements for admission to the Ph.D. in higher education administration, the student must:

Meet the university’s general requirements for graduate admission.
Have completed the specialist in higher education administration degree awarded from William Carey University or a masters’ degree from a recognized accrediting agency.
Present evidence of acceptable scholarship with an average of at least a 3.25 GPA on the higher education administration specialist degree or master’s level coursework.
Submit two written letters of recommendation—one from a professor and one from a supervisor.
Submit a resume or curriculum vita to the higher education administration program coordinator.
Complete an interview conducted by the higher education administration doctoral admissions committee.
Submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores earned within the past five years of application submission date. These scores must include the quantitative, verbal, and written components.

Admission is competitive and highly selective based on the above criteria and other considerations. A weight system will be used when examining the submitted information. The higher education administration admissions committee will examine the above listed information and make acceptance decisions after an evaluation of the information from all potential students who have made application to the program.

Requirements for All Candidates

The academic requirements for the Ph.D. in higher education administration include successful program progression and graduation requirements. The program progression requirements are as follows:

Must maintain a 3.0 GPA.
Must complete all required program work within a period of six years after enrolling in the higher education administration program. If the student has already completed a specialist degree in higher education administration, the student will have three years to complete coursework and the dissertation.
A signed program of study must be on file prior to completing nine hours.
Students may only have one replacement grade. This includes specialist and doctoral level coursework. Other courses may be retaken and averaged in the student’s GPA. Students who make more than two C’s or below in the program (this includes specialist and doctoral coursework) will be dismissed from the program.

The academic requirements for the Ph.D. in higher education administration degree include successful completion of the specialist degree in higher education administration, doctoral coursework, comprehensive examination, and dissertation. In addition, there is a GPA requirement. Specifically, to meet the graduation requirements of the doctoral program, the student must:

Complete 74 program hours as outlined in the curriculum.
Pass a written comprehensive examination.
Successfully complete all dissertation requirements as per the dissertation guidelines, chair, and committee. This includes successfully defending the dissertation proposal and final defense before the dissertation committee.
Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Students are required to maintain continuous enrollment until their degrees are completed.

Course Requirements

The coursework for the doctoral program is outlined below:

Elective (3 hours)

Must be a single 600 level or higher and selected with approval from advisor.

Proficiency Area (6 hours)

The student will complete one of the following:

Instructional Design/Applications in Technology: Successfully complete six graduate hours (600 level or higher) in instructional design and /or application in technology. The student must have preapproval by his/her advisor.
Research: Successfully complete six additional graduate hours (600 level or above) of research and statistics courses with advisor approval.

Dissertation Requirement (12 hours)

EDH 880 - Dissertation Credit Hours: 1-12 (12 Credit(s) Required)

Cognate Content Area – Optional (up to 18 hours)

Students may take hours in a discipline-specific area for the purpose of content credentialing. The student will select courses with advisor approval. All courses must be 600 level or higher.

Comprehensive Examination

The student will take and successfully pass a comprehensive examination after completing the doctoral coursework. It is the student’s responsibility to see his/her advisor to schedule a test time.

Dissertation Requirement

The student must take 12 hours of dissertation study. It is recommended that the student take three hours over four trimesters, and the student must be enrolled in dissertation hours the trimester he/she successfully defends. Students must successfully defend the dissertation proposal and the final study results after data are collected. Students will receive specific dissertation requirements from their program coordinator and dissertation chairs.