Point Park to Offer Doctorate in Leadership and Administration this Fall Thursday, May 8, 2014
Point Park University's Department of Education will be offering a 54-credit Doctor of Education program in leadership and administration beginning this fall. It will be one of most affordable doctoral programs in the Pittsburgh region with a flat tuition cost of $13,000 per year. Students will receive this locked-in rate for all three years with no additional fees.
Future doctors of leadership and administration can choose from three tracks:
- Professional Leadership (including those working toward Superintendent Letter of Eligibility);
- K-12 Administration (including principal certification); or an
- Individualized Concentration (up to 18 credits may be transferred into the individualized track pending approval of the program director; if fewer than 18 credits are transferred, the remainder of courses needed will be selected from the Professional Leadership track by the program director).
The program also includes core courses focusing on research methods and dissertation development.
"All courses will be offered in a hybrid format with on-site commitments reasonable enough to establish faculty/student and student/student community, but combined with off-site learning via electronic media to make it possible for working professionals to meet family and personal obligations while finishing all required courses and a dissertation in three years," explained Darlene Marnich, Ph.D., professor and chair of Point Park's education department.
According to Helen Sobehart, D.A., executive director of graduate education, the Ed.D. program at Point Park models a framework first introduced in the book, "Total Leaders 2.0: Leading in the Age of Empowerment," by Charles Schwahn, Ph.D. and William Spady, Ph.D.
"Since the doctorate program is based on literature and practice from a variety of fields such as business, education, psychology and others, it will be beneficial to professionals from a variety of disciplines," Sobehart said. "Another advantage of the program is that each student will have a mentor who is an established leader in his or her field."
Other distinctive features of Point Park's doctorate program include:
- Option to transfer in up to 18 post-master's degree credits, allowing for possible completion of the program in two years;
- Faculty and guest speakers from diverse disciplines;
- Feedback provided by faculty throughout the dissertation process; and
- Partnership with Pennsylvania's Professional Leadership Development Center.
"This Ed.D. program is designed for working professionals, those who want to improve their effectiveness so they can address the changing needs of their organization or school. This is a degree which is practice-based and where research is used to directly apply to workplace goals and challenges," Marnich added.
Learn More
Applicants are now being accepted for the fall 2014 term. For additional information, visit www.pointpark.edu/leader or contact Lynn Ribar, associate director of the Office of Graduate and Adult Enrollment, at lribar@pointpark.edu or 412-392-3908.