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College of Education
Educational Leadership

The primary mission of the Department of Educational Leadership is the development of individuals for leadership roles at all levels of education and related business/industry enterprises. Its scope includes PK-12 Education Leadership , Higher Education Leadership , and Workforce Education and Development . Our Department offers several programs, many of which involve theoretical constructs and practitioner training for those interested in careers as public or private educational leaders, policy analysis, and teachers in business and industry occupations that require educational and leadership skills or degrees focusing on educational research.

Higher Education Leadership Doctoral Program

Program Overview : Program Core : Research Core Electives : Strands : Internship : Doctoral Comprehensive Examination : Residency : Checklist for Program Progression : Advancement to Candidacy : Prospective Students : Current Student Resources

Doctoral Comprehensive Examination

The doctoral comprehensive examination consists of two parts: A core examination and an individualized examination.

Part I: Core examination

The core examination is offered twice a year (usually September and February). Students should take this examination as early in their programs of study as possible. You are eligible to take Part I of the Comprehensive Examinations if you have passed all of your core courses with a "B-" or better. Starting in Spring 2008, no student with anything less than a "B-" in any core course will be allowed to take Part I of the Comprehensive Examination. A core course may be repeated, allowing the student an opportunity to earn a “B-“ or better.

To be eligible to sit for this examination students must have completed the following courses:

  • EDH703 History of Higher Education
  • EDH706 Foundations of Higher Education or EDH715 Organizational Theory
  • EDH710 Higher Education Finance and Budgeting or EDH773 Economics of Higher Education
  • EDH752 Higher Education Law
  • EDH707 Research Design and Critique

NOTE: Even though Ph.D. students do not have to complete two of the Ph.D. core courses prior to taking the exam, they are required to take them as part of their programs of study.

The core examination is a timed exam consisting of two sections.

Section One: Covers research design. It draws heavily on EDH707. Students are encouraged to integrate information from other methods courses into their answers. Information about this question is provided to students prior to the examination (September students receive information in May; February students in October). Students are allotted approximately 3 ½ hours for this particular question.

Section Two: Affords student the opportunity to integrate basic historical, organizational, financial/economic, and legal perspectives into a discussion of one or more current issues, which are selected by the faculty and given to the prior to the examination (September students receive information in May; February students in October). Students are allotted approximately 5 hours for this particular question.

Section One of the core exam is taken on Day 1. Section Two of the exam is taken on Day 2. The evaluation rubric, which is currently used, is attached.

Students who sit for the exam, do so on the same day in the same computer lab for the same length of time (unless they finish early).

Part II: Individualized Examination

Part II of the comprehensive examination is completed at the end of your program of study prior to dissertation proposal defense. Each student and his/her program chair determine the content, format, and due date of this segment of the comprehensive examination. (In some instances, a student's entire committee could be involved in designing this assignment.) The chair notifies committee members of the assignment and distributes the final product to committee members for their information and input.

The purpose of the individualized examination is to help the student fill in gaps in his/her knowledge base and to help him/her move forward into the dissertation stage of his/her program.