Online University Degrees

Doctor of Education

The doctor of education degree (Ed.D.) is a doctoral degree that prepares the student for advanced professional proficiency in education, and for scholarly study of professional problems.

Like other doctorates, the Ed.D. is an academic degree of the highest level. It differs from a Ph.D. in Education in that it allows the study of a greater variety of education-related subjects in the first few years, focusing on a single topic only at the end. A typical four-year Ph.D. might require the submission of a 100,000-word thesis; the entire study period would be spent researching the topic and writing the thesis. In contrast, in a four-year doctor of education program, a student might be required to research various topics in the first two years, preparing a 6,000-word report for each. The last two years would be spent on the thesis, which might only be 50,000 words.

Doctor of Education Versus the PhD
The Ph.D. is the most popular and common of the research doctorates among university professors in the United States, which sometimes causes a perceived bias in favor of the Ph.D. over other doctoral degrees, though the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recognize numerous other doctoral degrees as equivalent and do not discriminate between them.

Doctor of Education Career Options
A doctor of education degree provides a variety of career outcomes. It is preparation for leadership and management positions in educational institutions and systems that operate educational programs. It is also preparation for those working in research, policy-making, new information technologies, and areas yet to emerge where advanced intellectual and applied knowledge and skills are required. Ed.D. holders also work in media and educational publishing.

As intensive as it is, the degree focuses on the connections between the worlds of research, policy, and professional practice (including educational administration, management, policy development and implementation and quality assurance) in addition to more conventional teaching and education criteria.

posted by Jason Newst @ 4:19 PM