Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration

The Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration (Ph.D./HEA) program will prepare learners for scholarship, practice, and leadership in post-secondary educational environments. Throughout the program, learners explore higher education through various lenses, with emphases on the ethical responsibilities of higher education institutions for developing strong communities and a knowledge-oriented workforce, and the role that collaboration and dialogue play in producing meaningful scholarship and effective leadership practice.

The proliferation of institutions of higher learning, along with the diversified student population entering into post-secondary classrooms, has created the need for new models of higher education leadership. These models require leaders to perform strongly in the traditional roles associated with the operation of complex organizations as well as the skills and disposition of an educational researcher. Additionally, leaders in higher education must be able to embody these roles in order to support their institutions' missions and creatively meet academic and organizational needs.

The Ph.D./HEA program addresses these dual roles by providing opportunities for academic inquiry into education and its historical, philosophical, and sociological premises alongside of depth study of the management and leadership of educational institutions. As such, learners in the Ph.D./HEA program are strongly encouraged to cultivate a rich, nuanced, and holistic understanding of higher education administration, placing them at the forefront of their discipline.

The Ph.D./HEA degree is consistent with the University's mission to educate students to achieve their professional goals, improve the productivity of educational organizations, and to improve the quality of education in their communities and in the community of scholarship surrounding higher education administration.