Educational Administration
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Online Degree Program

The Doctor of Education online degree program in Educational Administration is designed to assist educational professionals to explore and develop a comprehensive understanding of educational leadership and decision making processes.

Designed For You

The California Coast University online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration program was designed for complete flexibility for the student. All courses are self-paced and completed 100% online.

Affordable Tuition with Interest-Free Payment Plans

Low tuition with interest-free payment plans as low as $100/month.
Self-Paced, Online Courses

Flexible programs designed to fit into your busy schedule. Self-paced study with no group projects, set meeting times, or exam dates.
Start Anytime

The program is not structured in semesters, quarters or terms. It is designed to allow students to begin their online studies at any time of the year.
10% Tuition Discount*

CCU offers a tuition discount for Active Duty Military, Veterans, Law Enforcement, Firefighters, Government Employees, and CCU Graduates.
We also offer a 10% discount for Corporate Partner employees. For more information on how to become a Corporate Partner, see our Corporate Partnership Information Page.
*Employment verification is required. Offer good for students who enrolled after April 2018 and were offered discount at time of enrollment. Offer is not retroactive for students already enrolled. Discount and/or prices subject to change and/or cancellation at any time without notice. This offer cannot be combined with any other discount(s).

View Program Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:

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Develop knowledge of learning theory, philosophical and historical foundations and public policy in the procurement of education administration.
Develop a comprehensive understanding of a variety of educational leadership strategies to enhance learning using vision, missions, goals and objectives, strategic planning and sound decision-making in a wide range of leaning environments.
Apply the skill of interpreting, gathering and conducting educational research coupled with developing educational standards and accountability of school systems.
Examine key concepts and theories related to program content - utilizing critical thinking and academic writing skills.
Examine program content in relation to ethical reasoning, social responsibility, global citizenship, civic engagement.

Analyze educational environments so that decision-making and leadership can be developed to manage human resources, motivate people, train and develop through different learning modalities to make effective decisions about appropriate uses of educational finance in learning communities.
Synthesize both knowledge and application of educational administration by incorporating leadership techniques to lead educational organizations in both domestic and multicultural learning communities.
Evaluate the larger political, social, economic, legal and cultural influences of education through research supported by theoretical foundations to change, alter and expand educational initiatives in school systems.
Assess the value for life-long learning.

CCU offered a self-paced distance learning approach that allowed me, a working mother, to take courses as I was able and very affordable.

Gaye (Wilson) Gibson, Doctoral Alumni

Explore The Program

The Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program consists of 17 total courses.
The required courses are comprised of: 3 Qualifying Courses, followed by a Qualifying Exam > 4 Core Courses > 4 Specialization Courses > and 2 Research Courses.
Once completed, there is a Comprehensive Examination, followed by a Proposal, Dissertation and Oral Defense .
There are 66 total semester units in this program.

3 Qualifying Courses

For the online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program, the following 3 courses must be fulfilled, followed by a Qualifying Examination. Click on course title to expand and read more.

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ID		Course Name	Units
	EDU 602	Philosophical Foundations of Education	4
Philosophical Foundations of Education provides an overview of the dominant philosophical perspectives which have framed the evolution of education, from the time of Plato to the present day. The major philosophers throughout history have included the nature and purpose of education in their writings. This course illustrates the historical, social, cultural, and educational contexts of the most prominent of those writings and discusses their implications for the evolution of education. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Examine the major educational philosophies which have framed the development of American education. Analyze the emergence and development of educational philosophies through the various historical periods of the American experience. Compare and contrast the educational philosophies which have shaped American education up to the present day. Evaluate major educational philosophies in light of the needs of the 21st century information society. Assess the contributions of feminist thinking in epistemology to educational thought and practice.
	EDU 610	Learning Theory	4
Learning Theory examines theories of learning and the functions of the human brain which have evolved over the past century. Information processing, memory, conditioning, motivation, developmental characteristics, transfer, problem-solving, social aspects of learning, and classroom applications are covered comprehensively. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Distinguish between the roles of observation and experimentation in psychological research. Compare and contrast the major differences between behaviorism and cognitivism. Analyze the overall structure of the brain, including the roles of synapses, neurons, and glial cells in mental development. Analyze how individuals are both teachers to, and learners from, one another. Examine the key effects of motivation as factors that affect the engagement of students in the learning process.
	EDU 614	History of Education	4
History of Education provides an overview of the history of American education, including the most important persons, dates, events, and movements that shaped the nation’s system of education. Students are introduced to historical research through engaging historical studies. The basic concepts and theories that underlie current educational practice are presented in comprehensive form. Also included is treatment of new educational delivery systems such as distance learning, online resources, computer based research and emerging educational technologies as well as international and global influences and trends in education. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Develop a strong understanding of the historical philosophical, psychological and social foundations of education. Survey a chronological examination of American education from colonial beginnings to the modern era. Examine some of the laws, court cases, issues, political changes and conflicts that influence the field of education, with an eye toward globalization and other future trends.
	EDU 615	Qualifying Examination	0
Pass/No Pass Upon completion of the three qualifying courses, candidates will complete a written Qualifying Examination based on materials covered in the three qualifying courses. The Qualifying Courses are common to all three degree programs and provide a solid foundation for continued study. The three courses include EDU 602, Philosophical Foundations of Education, EDU 610, Learning Theory, and EDU 614, History of Education. Objective The examination is intended to test students’ knowledge related to the Qualifying Courses. The Qualifying Exam will be based on the material presented in the required Qualifying Courses and will require the student to respond to questions that elicit higher level cognitive skills. Students are expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge related to the three areas of study while demonstrating advanced academic skills, including (but not limited to) the ability to develop and sustain a line of argument that is coherent and supported with viable, text-based evidence, while writing clear scholarly prose.

4 Core Courses

For the online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program, the following 4 courses must be fulfilled. Click on course title to expand and read more.

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ID		Course Name	Units
	EDU 591	Public Policy	3
Public Policy reviews educational policy from a micro and macro perspective. It reviews the general concepts of public policy and looks at the socioeconomic context of the school as it relates to economics, demographics, politics, culture, and values. It also analyzes the policy process, the key players, and the typical issues involved, as well as a historical perspective to aid in understanding the current education reform climate. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Examine the dimensions of educational policy in the United States. Analyze the politics of policy as it plays out at the local, state, and federal levels. Evaluate the progress of educational conditions and issues as they become translated into policy proposals, enacted, implemented and evaluated. Explore the evolution of educational policy through the major periods of American educational history.
	EDU 592	Legal Aspects of Education	3
Legal Aspects of Education details the principles underlying school law and provides essential guidelines for school personnel to follow in their everyday work. Descriptive scenarios of landmark cases and concepts aid in understanding the context of legal principles as they apply to a range of school issues. This course explores how basic legal principles apply to educational questions and emerging legal issues, policies, and judicial decisions that affect classroom teachers, leaders, and students. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: Distinguish between the federal, state, and local role in education. Examine the judicial tests used to assess Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause claims and the different remedies for violations of the two clauses. Identify what legal grounds can be used to challenge student classifications based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and ability. Analyze the differences among the federal laws and constitutional provisions that are most relied upon in employment discrimination cases. Examine the rationale for establishing charter schools and the controversial issues involving these schools.
	EDU 618	Analysis of Current Issues in Education	4
Analysis of Current Issues in Education explores a wide range of topics in education such as governance, teaching and learning, student life, faculty, finances, public policy, fundraising, and innovations. Emphasis is placed on uncovering the underlying social and ideological philosophies that lie below the surface of each issue. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Analyze how higher education tends to increase differences according to one’s advantages or disadvantages in race, income, and early educational opportunities. Compare and contrast academic ideals and institutional realities. Describe the “shared governance” model usually associated with colleges and universities. Evaluate the issues of privatization in higher education. Detail how higher education is part of a continual, complex dynamic of the American ritual of “give and take.” Compare and contrast the “price” and “cost” of a college education.
	EDU 621	Organizational Behavior and Adaptive Leadership	4
Organizational Behavior and Adaptive Leadership is the study of organizational behavior, how it impacts educational leadership, and how leaders can embrace the challenges of school reform. The course highlights the paradigms of the evolution of educational thought, organizational theory, human capital and decision-making that educational leaders face in a hypercompetitive, global educational environment. Course Objectives Examine the relationship between leadership and school reform. Determine the best knowledge and understanding of organizational behavior in initiating school reform. Propose how adaptive leaders can be effective in times of rapid change, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Explore the vast knowledge of the mainstreams of organizational behavior and the human dimension in organizations. Determine how to create an effective climate and culture to bring about effective change, motivation, leadership, and teamwork.

4 Specialization Courses

For the online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program, the following 4 courses must be fulfilled. Click on course title to expand and read more.

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ID		Course Name	Units
	EDU 627	Managing Human Resources	4
Managing Human Resources involves the management of people in school organizations. The human resource function, including staffing and recruiting top talent, re-recruitment, professional development, retention of talent, and change management will be explored in order to enable educational leaders to plan the day-to-day utilization of people as organizational resources to achieve optimal productivity, satisfaction, and continuous improvement. Performance management, measuring teacher performance, strategic management for principals, and the policy and political environment for change will also be addressed. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Provide an overview of the importance of the human resource process in public school districts. Examine how human resource functions are implemented in public school settings. Analyze the guidelines for the strategic planning process in developing staffing plans for public school districts. Describe the recruiting, legal, and policy-making processes in the employment configuration practice. Analyze how educational research related to new human capital strategies may alter policy-making in fundamental ways.
	EDU 630	Educational Finance	4
Educational Finance is concerned with the process of understanding that resources, social progress, technological advancement and wealth are created through a sound and continuously improving educational system. Such a system itself depends upon many kinds of inputs, one of the most important of which is adequate funding. This course examines the sources of educational funding and the issues surrounding how that funding is acquired, administered, and dispersed by the federal government, states, communities and local school districts. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Examine the relationships between education and society. Analyze the complexities of financial support for education in the U.S. Determine the relationship between education and economic growth. Evaluate the evolution of education finance and control. Examine the current issues that will influence future educational finance.
	EDU 645	Advanced Curriculum Development	4
Advanced Curriculum Development examines the principles and practices essential to developing and administering curricular programs, including knowledge and understanding about measurability, scope and sequence, taxonomy, program designs, and the fit between a planned program and a taught or implemented one. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Examine basic concepts of curriculum planning, implementation, and evaluation. Analyze the historical, philosophical, and political underpinnings of curriculum. Examine curriculum management and supervision of human and material resources. Investigate current developments and trends in curriculum.
	EDU 647	Educational Accountability, Governance, and Reform	4
Educational Accountability, Governance, and Reform is designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the accountability movement, its dimensions and its implications. It is designed to facilitate leadership in the promotion of educational accountability and in the development of further research and scholarship in the accountability movement. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Survey the history of educational movements from the earliest days of the American colonies to present times. Analyze the educational reform movement since the 1980s. Examine the characteristics of the educational accountability movement. Evaluate the changes which have occurred over the past 30 years with respect to local, state, and federal control over education. Analyze the growth of standardized testing and its role in educational reform.

2 Research Courses

For the online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program, the following 2 courses must be fulfilled. Click on course title to expand and read more.

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ID		Course Name	Units
	EDU 652	Educational Research	4
Educational Research is a required course completed by all Doctoral students to prepare them for the development and writing of a Proposal and Dissertation. The course presents a balanced presentation of quantitative and qualitative research. It examines the fundamental issues of research so that students learn how to begin to conduct research as well as to read and evaluate research studies. By using the concepts and research techniques presented in this course, students and faculty will work together to develop the student’s knowledge of the Dissertation process. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Develop skills in interpreting and evaluating research. Examine the steps in the research process for a variety of quantitative and qualitative research designs. Acquire a realistic perspective on the process of research and the selection of specific research designs by following fictional researchers in their work. Demonstrate an understanding of the research process by introducing many of the research methods, research design, and process requirements of the dissertation process.
	EDU 653	Quantitative Methods in Educational Research	4
Quantitative Methods in Educational Research is designed to prepare students to understand the elements of research from the standpoint of both design and data analysis. To do this, the course presents information enabling students to judge the research of others and to design their own high-quality investigations. This course will also enable students to read, interpret, and critically evaluate quantitative results. From this, students will be able to solve problems and make knowledge-based decisions. Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Examine the different kinds of quantitative analyses in educational research. Demonstrate an understanding of descriptive, associational and inferential statistics. Analyze aspects of research design including surveys, sampling, experimental design, reliability and validity, regression and factor analysis. Develop skills in program evaluation to investigate the efficiency, effectiveness, and/or impact of organized interventions meant to bring about change.

1 Comprehensive Examination

After completing all of the above courses for the online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program, a Comprehensive Examination is taken. Click on exam title to expand and read more.

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ID		Course Name	Units
	EDU 687	Comprehensive Examination	2
Doctor of Education in Educational Administration candidates will complete a written Comprehensive Examination. This final requirement will be in the form of an essay examination, based upon major areas of education. Students are asked to integrate course information, professional experience, and outside source materials into a comprehensive framework reflecting their accumulated knowledge in the field of education. Objective The Comprehensive Examination is intended to test students’ knowledge related to the qualifying and core courses and area of specialization courses. Learners are expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge: facility with a wide range of texts and the ability to draw on main ideas of important thinkers and writers in their fields of study, linking them together in interesting and relevant ways to other scholars working in the field. In addition, students are expected to demonstrate depth of knowledge: the ability to engage, critically and substantively, with texts that both respect and interrogate the students’ claims, positions, and arguments. Finally, students are expected to demonstrate advanced academic skills, including (but not limited to) the ability to develop and sustain a line of argument that is coherent and supported with viable, text-based evidence, while writing clear scholarly prose.

Research and Dissertation Phase

After completing the Comprehensive Exam for the online Doctor of Education in Educational Administration degree program, the Research and Dissertation Phase begins. It is comprised of the following items. Click on title to expand and read more.

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ID		Course Name	Units
	GRM 712	Proposal	2
The Proposal focuses on the preparation of research. This includes conceptual tools, techniques for conducting scientific research, evaluation of the value of research proposals and planning and executing research projects. The student will learn how to organize knowledge within his/her field for presentation in a standardized, scholarly fashion. The student will develop the formal proposal based on established doctoral guidelines and under the supervision of the graduate review committee. This course requires that the student present an acceptable proposal for review and analysis in lieu of a final course examination.
	GRM 715	Dissertation and Oral Defense	12
The Dissertation and Oral Defense can begin after GRM 712 has been successfully completed and approved. The candidate will develop and compile an original work, demonstrating ability to add to the body of knowledge in his or her field for presentation to and acceptance by the University. After the student’s dissertation is approved and bound, the candidate is responsible for appearing before their Dissertation Committee in person for the purpose of orally responding to committee member questions as they pertain to the candidate’s dissertation.

Prerequisites to Admission:

An applicant must have earned a Master's Degree in Education. A Master’s Degree in another field may be accepted if the Admissions Committee evaluation indicates the applicant has the necessary foundation to succeed in the program. The applicant must then complete the following 5 prerequisite courses: EDU 510 Models of Teaching, EDU 532 School-Community Relations, EDU 545 Leadership and Technology, EDU 546 Public Policy, and EDU 547 Legal Aspects of Education.

Online Library Resources:

To assist students with the Doctor of Education program, doctoral candidates will have 24-hour complimentary access to online library resources. The Library and Information Resources Network, Inc. (LIRN) provides students with access to multiple research databases. These resources will be essential to students at the Dissertation stage and will also provide information to reference throughout their program.

FAQ About Coursework

Required units may be satisfied in the following ways:

CCU Course with Study Guide
California Coast University has developed comprehensive Study Guides, for each course, that are designed to coordinate and sequence the learning materials within the required textbook(s). The following points will help to illustrate how the Study Guides are designed:
- Study Guides are based on specific textbooks, available through local bookstores, the publisher, or the University's Rental Library.
- Each Study Guide is organized with a complete syllabus, along with instructional materials to guide the student chapter by chapter through the corresponding text.
- Each Study Guide contains an overview and summary of all textbook chapters, a listing of important keywords (with definitions), self-tests (with answers) on key points, and critical thinking activities.
- Study Guides include 4 unit exams equally spaced throughout the instructional materials, four writing assignments per unit, and the final multiple choice examination.
- Examinations are designed to test the student on the information contained within the preceding chapters.
- All tests have no time limit and may be completed as open book tests.
Transfer of Credit
Transcripts of previously completed master's or doctoral level academic work are evaluated and credit may be transferred to meet existing coursework requirements. The following guidelines are utilized when accepting transfer credit for a doctoral level degree program:
- Doctor of Education students may receive transfer credit for up to two courses (up to 8 semester units) of previously completed coursework.
- Courses must have been completed at a college or university accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or its foreign equivalent.
- Transfer grades earned must be equivalent to a letter grade of B (3.0 GPA) or higher.
- No specialized training or experiential learning credit can be awarded at the graduate level.

Educational Administration
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Online Degree Program

Designed For You

Explore The Program

Prerequisites to Admission:

Online Library Resources:

FAQ About Coursework

Per Unit

Total Courses:

Total Units:

AFFORDABLE

Interest-Free Payment Plans

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Why California Coast University?

Recognition And Affiliations

YOU Benefit With CCU

Our affordable and flexible programs were specifically designed so you can:

Educational Administration Doctor of Education (EdD) Online Degree Program

Designed For You

Explore The Program

Prerequisites to Admission:

Online Library Resources:

FAQ About Coursework

Per Unit

Total Courses:

Total Units:

AFFORDABLE

Interest-Free Payment Plans

Plan A

Plan B

Plan C

Why California Coast University?

Recognition And Affiliations

YOU Benefit With CCU

Our affordable and flexible programs were specifically designed so you can:

Educational Administration
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Online Degree Program