Ed.D. Degree Requirements

The Doctor of Education degree program is designed to provide students with advanced professional training and to further develop their abilities in the scholarly study of professional problems.

Program Plan

Upon admission to a Doctor of Education program, each student is assigned an academic adviser in an area of specialization. The student and adviser plan a program of study to meet the student’s individual goals and general degree requirements. Departments may require that a copy of the program plan be kept on file.

Time Limits

Graduate students and advisers should be guided by the Graduate College policy on doctoral degree time limits. If a time extension is desired, it may be requested by completing a Graduate Student Petition. These petitions are considered and acted upon by the student’s adviser, the department, and the Graduate College. Each individual who has authority to act on the petition may either approve or deny the petition.

Course Requirements for Ed.D. Candidates

All students admitted to a Doctor of Education degree program must fulfill Graduate College requirements for the doctoral degree, departmental requirements, and the following College of Education minimum requirements on the Urbana campus or Urbana off-campus or online courses:

1. Completion of at least 64 credit hours beyond the master's degree including:
   • At least 24 hours in the area of specialization and related areas.
   • A cognate requirement of at least 16 hours.
   • Two courses on research methods. The first will be a research course (e.g. CI 550/EPSY 573/SPED 550, Methods of Educational Inquiry or HRE 580, Disciplined Inquiry in Vocational Education) introducing the student to a variety of educational research methodologies. The second course should be selected to improve the student's area of professional expertise and should help prepare the student to carry out research on his or her expected dissertation topic. This second course will be EPSY 480, Elements of Educational Statistics, or a course from one of the approved Research Methodology Areas.
   • A minimum of 4 hours and a maximum of 16 hours of dissertation research credit will be counted toward the degree.
   • No more than 12 hours of independent study credit.

A student who has completed course work as part of the requirements for the Certificate of Advanced Study in Education at the University of Illinois may petition for the application of not more than 24 hours of such work toward the program leading to the Doctor of Education provided the course work has been taken within five years of the date of the petition and the Certificate of Advanced Study has not been granted. 

Residence

Ed.D. candidates in the College of Education must include a period of continuous engagement on campus, during which time students are expected to interact with faculty and other students, read widely within and beyond their major field of study, and contemplate scholarly issues as they relate to professional practice. For Ed.D. candidates, this must include concurrent and reciprocal participation in an approved full-time combination of academic courses and professional experiences over four consecutive semesters. At the discretion of the student and the adviser, this may or may not include summer sessions.

During the four consecutive semesters, a minimum of 16 academic hours of coursework must be taken on the Urbana campus. The 16 hours may be scheduled in a manner that best fits the residency plan, as specified below. However, students must maintain continuous enrollment during the residence period. Thesis or independent study credit may not be counted toward satisfying the 16 hours requirement, but it may be used to meet the continuous enrollment requirement.

To satisfy the residence requirement, Ed.D. candidates must have approval both prior to beginning the residency and after its completion. Prior to beginning the residency, an Ed.D. Residency Requirement Plan form must be completed. Students must have the Ed.D. Residency Requirement Plan approved by their advisers and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In the case of cohort programs, students should have their plans approved by their department and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The plan should include:

1. Statement of purpose showing how coursework and professional experience are related and a rationale for this plan.
2. Statement of expected outcomes.
3. Clear statement of the courses to be taken, the semester in which they will be taken (understanding that revisions may be necessary), and the specific professional experience to which they relate.
4. A plan for how a student is expected to interact with faculty and other students, to read widely within and beyond the major field, and to contemplate scholarly issues as they relate to professional practice.

After an Ed.D. candidate completes the proposed Ed.D. Residency Requirement Plan, he/she must have the adviser sign Ed.D. Residency Requirement Plan again signifying the Ed.D. Residency Requirement Plan was completed. It is then submitted to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for final approval.

Evaluation of Academic Progress

Each department in the College of Education has a procedure for evaluating a student’s progress toward the doctoral degree. These procedures have been approved by the Graduate Programs Committee. The evaluation of academic progress, whether by examination or other formal review, results in a decision regarding student progress. When a decision is made that a student is not making satisfactory progress, the student, the adviser, and the Student Academic Affairs Office will be informed in writing by the department. This evaluation will take place no later than the end of the second year after a student enters the Graduate College.

Qualifying Examinations

Cognate Requirement

The cognate requirement requires a student to complete 16 hours of coursework in an academic field or fields outside of his/her department. In this case, the term "field" refers to either a university recognized department and academic discipline with a department, or an interdisciplinary major or program recognized by the university. These hours will be chosen by the student in consultation with his/her adviser. The purpose of the cognate requirement is to provide the student with a scholarly perspective of an academic field or fields outside of their major field of study, but one that relates to and supports their major field of study and intended field of professional practice. The cognate requirement must be completed prior to being admitted to the preliminary oral examination.

All courses used to meet the cognate requirement must be outside the student's department and may be outside of the college. Sixteen hours may be taken in one field or 8 hours may be taken in each of two related fields. At least 8 of the 16 hours must be taken at the 500 level. If two fields are selected, at least 4 hours in each field must be at the 500 level. The 16 hours for the cognate requirement may be included in the 64 hours beyond the master's degree requirement for graduation.

Prior to beginning the cognate requirement, students must complete the Ed.D. Cognate Requirement Plan form. This form must be approved by the student’s adviser and then submitted to the department. The Ed.D. Cognate Requirement Plan requires a listing of the courses a student plans to take to satisfy the cognate requirement and a rationale for how those courses interrelate to create a coherent area of concentration. Once the proposed plan has been completed, the adviser must sign the form certifying that the plan has been completed. Once the adviser has certified completion of the plan, the form is submitted to the department.

Human Subjects Approval

For all dissertations, approval for use of human subjects or confirmation that human subjects review is not required must be obtained from the Office of School-University Research Relations and Human Subjects prior to doing research on the dissertation topic. The compliance form (Approval for Research Involving Human Subjects for Early Research, Master’s, and Doctoral Theses) must be provided to the department and the Student Academic Affairs Office prior to the scheduling of the preliminary (oral) exam.

Preliminary (Oral) Examination

The preliminary oral examination follows successful completion of the qualifying examinations, the cognate requirement, the research methods courses and human subjects approval. In addition, all excused (Ex) grades must be changed to letter grades prior to the oral examination.

The purpose of a preliminary oral examination is for a student to present the rationale and format for the dissertation. During the examination, an agreement is reached between the student and the committee concerning the proposed dissertation. Thus, the examination is held prior to the collection of data or other major work on the dissertation. The student does not have to be registered in order to take the preliminary oral examination if 96 hours of graduate work, including the master’s degree have been completed. The student should consult the department for additional requirements.

Appointment of the Preliminary Oral Examination Committee

The committee must meet the preliminary exam committee requirements of the Graduate College including:

• The committee must include at least four voting members, at least three of which must be members of the Graduate Faculty, and two of which must also be tenured.

In addition to these requirements, College of Education requirements must be met:

• The chair must be tenured or tenure-track and a member of the Graduate Faculty.
• A contingent chair should be named and meet the chair requirements.
• At least one member must be from outside the student’s field of specialization and the budgetary department of the student and adviser.

A request for an exception to these rules must be made in writing by the chairperson and approved by the College of Education Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Dean of the Graduate College. For committee members outside of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a letter of justification and a resume must be submitted by the adviser to the College of Education Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In appointing the committee, the adviser nominates members through a Request for Appointment of Prelim Exam Committee form. This form requires the departmental chair/head’s review and approval and must be forwarded to the Student Academic Affairs Office at least three weeks before the examination.

After the committee is appointed, the preliminary oral examination takes place. The adviser obtains the Certificate of Results of Preliminary Examination form from the department office before the examination and returns the form immediately after the examination. All appointed members must sign the Certificate of Results of Preliminary Examination form.

The Certificate of Results of Preliminary Examination form may indicate positive or negative actions, but it is also possible to ”adjourn” the committee and reconvene it at a later date. The committee may be adjourned for a period of no longer than six months.

The student does not need to be registered at the time of the preliminary oral examination if 96 hours of graduate work (including the master’s degree) have been completed, unless university facilities are being used. However, the examination must be retaken if the doctoral program is not completed within five years of the original examination.

Dissertation

The Ed.D. dissertation is intended to demonstrate the Ed.D. candidate’s ability to relate academic knowledge to the problems of professional practice. The dissertation should be characterized by the kind of synthesis of experiences that is the hallmark of a highly qualified professional. The demonstration of these qualities may take a variety of forms such as: (a) a field study; (b) a scholarly, original paper dealing with the interpretation and evaluation of the work of a particular writer whose findings have a significant bearing on any aspect of the educational enterprise where the significance has not been clearly indicated by earlier studies; or, (c) an analytic report demonstrating the student’s ability to carry a project through from conceptualization to evaluation. (Graduate Faculty Action, February 15, 1973)

The dissertation usually requires a year or more of study. Registration in dissertation research hours for on-campus students, or by petition for credit in absentia, after the completion of the required 64 hours beyond the master’s degree is optional. This registration typically comes after the course work is completed and before the time limits are reached. The College of Education does not limit the number of dissertation research hours a student can take, however, no more than 16 can be counted toward the Ed.D. credit requirements and at least 4 hours is expected.

At the time of deposit, students will need at least three copies of the dissertation in its final form. In addition to the two copies required by the Graduate College, one copy of the dissertation in final form should be prepared for the adviser.

Dissertation Editorial Style and Format Approval

The dissertation must be prepared using one of the following commonly accepted editorial styles:

• American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
• Harvard Law Review Association. (1991). A uniform system of citation (15th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Author.
• Modern Language Association. (1988). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (3rd ed.). New York: Author.
• Turabian, K. L. (1987). A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations (5th ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• University of Chicago. (1993). The Chicago manual of style (14th ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago.

NOTE: LaTex is not an acceptable editorial style. However, this typesetting system can be used in conjunction with one of the above editorial styles.

The student will consult with the adviser and dissertation committee members to choose the style to be used. In exceptional circumstances, style manuals not listed above may be used with prior approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. . In addition, the Thesis & Dissertation policies and procedures issued by the Graduate College must be followed. In the case of explicit differences between the Graduate College instructions and the style manual selected, the Graduate College instructions take precedence. For example, students choosing the APA style manual should follow the Graduate College instructions rather than those included in the APA manual for insertion of tables and figures. Every dissertation in final manuscript form must be reviewed and approved by the College of Education Thesis Format Office. It is highly recommended that students turn in a draft for a preliminary format after completion of the preliminary oral exam. The student must specify which editorial style has been selected for use. A submission deadline date for the final format review is set before each graduation date. The student should allow a minimum of three to four weeks for the final format review and approval.

Dissertation Abstract

Abstracts for dissertations in the College of Education must include a synopsis of the following information to describe fully the completed study:

1. The problem and its theoretical and educational significance.
2. The research design and/or approach employed (include here appropriate descriptions of subjects and methods).
3. An overview of the results.
4. Conclusions, recommendations, and/or implications.

Final Examination

Final examinations are oral and open to the public. The final examination committee chair is responsible for convening the committee, conducting the examination, and submitting the Certificate of Result of Final Examination to the department.

Appointment of the Final Examination Committee

The committee must meet the final exam committee requirements of the Graduate College including:

• The committee must include at least four voting members, at least three of which must be members of the Graduate Faculty, and two of which must also be tenured.

In addition to these requirements, College of Education requirements must be met:

• The chair must be tenured or tenure-track.
• A contingent chair should be named and meet the chair requirements.
• At least one member must be from outside the student’s field of specialization and the budgetary department of the student and adviser.

A request for an exception to these rules must be made in writing by the chairperson and approved by the College of Education Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Dean of the Graduate College. For committee members outside of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a letter of justification and a resume must be submitted by the adviser to the College of Education Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In appointing the committee, the adviser nominates members through a Request for Appointment of Final Exam Committee form. This form requires the departmental chair/head’s review and approval and must be forwarded to the Student Academic Affairs Office at least three weeks before the examination.

The final oral examination will be conducted in a room that will accommodate at least ten people, although a larger room will be reserved if the committee is aware that more people will attend the oral.

The student must present the dissertation to the final examination committee for reading two weeks before the examination; in some cases it may be more reasonable to allow three weeks.

After the committee is appointed, the final examination takes place. The adviser obtains the Certificate of Results of Final Examination form from the department before the examination and returns the form immediately after the examination. The committee should meet in private before beginning the exam. The public cannot ask questions or give input during the exam. At the conclusion of the exam, the committee will meet in private to discuss the results and then inform the candidate of the decision.

All committee members’ signatures are required on three copies of the Certificate of Committee Approval form (two for the Graduate College and one for the department) and one Certificate of Results of Final Examination form (for the Graduate College). Committee members have the right to review the final copy of the dissertation before signing the forms. Only approved committee members may sign these forms. The student may request their signatures on additional approval forms.

Registration for Final Examination for Doctoral Degree

Information on registration requirements can be found on the Graduate College Web site under Requirements for Doctoral Degree.

Dissertation Deposit

After the final examination and format check, two copies of the dissertation and one extra copy of the dissertation abstract are deposited in the Graduate College Office. Students should note the deadline dates for each degree-granting period. At any time after degree requirements have been satisfied and the dissertation has been deposited, the student may request a Verification of Degree.

Students are not eligible to participate in commencement unless they have both defended and deposited the dissertation.