Program Description

The K-16 Educational Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral program brings together education scholars who come from a variety of experiences and expertise, and challenges the conventional wisdom that K-12 and post-secondary education are too different to be understood by the same practice, policy, or research. The program promotes and requires rigorous scholarship that spans the educational continuum and is ideal for students seeking to enter careers in research, institutional assessment, policy analysis, educational leadership, or the professoriate. Students of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) programs should anticipate the academic rigor that the university and department embrace as its mission to obtain status as a “Tier 1, National Research University.”

If applicants are accepted into the doctoral program, students will join a cohort of students. For the first three-and-half years, the cohort will take coursework together. The coursework will be offered face to face, one to two nights a week. Because most of our students are working professionals, students will be required to take only six hours a semester, but students may choose to take more credit hours toward electives. In addition to coursework, students will be required to enroll in an academic travel experience (to be offered as an elective), attend a national research conference with UTA faculty, pass comprehensive examinations, and successfully complete dissertations.