This is a named option in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis PhD.
The Department's focus is to develop a knowledge base that includes an understanding of the institutional context of higher education, academic leadership, culture and governance, and student services administration. Program faculty have expertise in a variety of institutional types and educational contexts, including research universities, historically black colleges and universities, community colleges, vocational technical colleges, adult learning in non-traditional settings, and the view that education should be approached as a K-16 system. Students receive a strong foundation in research methods (both qualitative and quantitative), and an understanding of the institutional dynamics and policy context of post-secondary education.
Students who have received their Ph.D. in Higher Education in our department have successfully pursued a wide range of leadership, faculty, and senior administrator and staff positions in colleges and universities across this country and the globe. To illustrate, some graduates have gone on to become presidents of community colleges, four year colleges, major research universities, and liberal arts colleges. Others have taken on a wide range of senior administrative and staff positions, such as vice-presidents of statewide systems of higher education, chief diversity officers, colleges and university provosts, and university-wide assessment directors. Still others have taken on faculty and staff positions at a wide range of colleges and universities, including major research universities as well as regional colleges and universities.