Doctor of Education

The Southeastern University Doctor of Education degree is designed to provide advanced preparation for a variety of careers.  The purpose of this program is to develop competent and effective experts to assume critical leadership roles.  Specialized courses develop the skills necessary to assume a key facilitating role in the field of the candidate’s choice.  The courses help those interested in various educational and organizational careers to develop strong educational, leadership, and decision-making abilities.

Depending upon the concentrations chosen, career opportunities include any leadership position in an organization including, but not limited to:

 

                                Supervising Teacher/Instructor                                Curriculum Specialist

                                School Superintendent                                            Specialized District Supervisor

                                Assistant Superintendent                                        Non-profit Leader

                                Principal                                                                  Christian Education Director

                                College Instructor                                                    Organizational Leader

                                College Administrator                                              Business Consultant

                                Supervisor                                                               Personnel Leader

                                Master Teacher                                                       Business Trainer

 

The Doctor of Education program is a non-licensure program. If candidates wish to obtain any type of state certification, they will need to contact their state department of education for specific requirements and applications.

Program Sequence

Total Credits

54 Credit hours with four components:

Doctoral Core (15 hours)

Research Core (9 hours)

Concentration (18 hours)

Dissertation (a minimum of 12 hours)

Program Length

3-4 years

Full-time students (6 credit hours per term)

Part-time student (3 credit hours per term)

Program Delivery

Four 12-week terms of courses (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall)

Three of the terms will be completed online

One term will be completed on campus as a two week (one week for part-time) face-to-face intensive (either in the Winter or Summer, corresponding to when students begin the program)

Dissertation defense on campus

Entrance Requirements

All of the components listed below are required and will be utilized by our COE Ed.D. Committee in making an admittance decision.  However, failure to meet one of these standards may not immediately disqualify a candidate depending upon the strength of the other components.  For example, an applicant with a 3.5 GPA but only two years of experience may still be considered by the Ed.D. admissions committee.  Applicants are considered on a case-by-case basis, and the decision of the committee is final.

• Regionally accredited graduate degree with at least a 3.0 GPA
• Two professional letters of recommendation
• For non-native English speakers a current TOEFL score at the mean level or higher
• Current Professional Vita
• Christian faith statement essay: 2-3 pages
• Minimum of 3 full-time years of successful experience in a related field
• Professional writing sample: minimum of 5 pages (Examples: articles, graduate research papers/assignments, published work, etc.)
• Interview and timed writing prompt

Failure to meet one of these standards may not immediately disqualify a candidate depending upon the strength of the other components. 

Non-Degree Seeking

Students may take up to 18 hours as a non-degree seeking student.  This may appeal to those already holding a graduate degree that need further graduate hours to qualify for teaching a specific discipline at the university level.  Specific concentration courses may especially be helpful for this goal.  It may also appeal to those not yet sure if a doctoral degree is their goal, but want to explore the possibility.  Contact the graduate admissions office for details on admissions criteria for the courses desired.

 

Transfer Credits

Graduate credit may be accepted from an accredited university if the credits are not part of any other earned degree.  

In other words, a student cannot transfer courses that were taken for a master’s or specialist degree into the doctoral program.  Transfer credits must be from graduate level courses, earned at an accredited university, less than 8 years old, and be relevant to the coursework at SEU. 

The COE Ed.D. Committee will evaluate and award transfer credit based on a case-by-case basis.  The College of Education Ed.D. Committee has determined that once an Ed.D. student begins his or her coursework at SEU, no transient credit (future courses taken at another university) will be allowed without prior approval.

Program Delivery Format

 

Online, face-to-face, and hybrid model.

Residency Requirement

• Some required face-to-face courses on campus
• On-campus dissertation defense

*Notes: The Doctor of Education program is a non-licensure program.  If candidates wish to obtain any type of state certification they will need to contact their state department of education for specific requirements and applications.