Doctor of Education (EdD) in Leadership

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Admission for June start will begin February 1 and will remain open until the cohort is filled

Preparing executive leaders in a wide range of fields

Designed for novice and experienced leaders, the interdisciplinary Doctor of education in Leadership (EdD) program will enhance your leadership skills for career advancement and personal or professional development. Ideal for working professionals, the program prepares candidates for executive leadership positions in a variety of career settings, including but not limited to:

  • P-12 education
  • higher education
  • social services
  • healthcare
  • nonprofit and for-profit business enterprises
  • faith-based organizations
  • government

Program Highlights

  • 55-credits including dissertation
  • Program may be completed in three years of full-time study and the successful completion of dissertation
  • Low-residency, hybrid format:
    • Summer Semester and Residency Requirement: Courses meet online for 7 weeks during June and July, plus an in-person residency requirement.
    • Fall and Spring Semesters: Courses meet online throughout 14 weeks with additional in-person classes held on four Saturdays each semester.
  • Cohort model—Students move together throughout the curriculum to maximize learning and professional development.
  • Leader Learner Communities­—A unique feature of the program is the Leader Learner Community concept, where small groups of students with similar interests meet regularly with a faculty mentor to further develop their professional acumen and make important career connections. Learn more about our faculty »
View requirements and course descriptions:
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Admission Requirements

  • Master’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education
  • Preferred cumulative GPA of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale
  • Official undergraduate and graduate transcripts
  • Three letters of recommendation that must speak to your qualifications for this program
  • Current CV/resume detailing employment background
  • Personal essay articulating goals and expectations

Application Deadline

Admission to this cohort-based program occurs once yearly, with coursework beginning in June. While we start reviewing applications on February 1, the application process will remain open until the cohort is filled. As the program is competitive, we strongly encourage applicants to submit their materials as early as possible. Finalists will be required to interview with program faculty before final admission decisions.

For more information, contact:

Contact Us
Gihan Mohamad, Ed.D
Professor, Educational Leadership & Professional Studies
EdD Program Director
mohamadg@wpunj.edu
973-720-3136

Admission Deadline for July start: February 1

About the EdD in Leadership

Preparing the next generation of organizational leaders committed to promoting equity, fairness, and social justice

The Doctor of Education in Leadership at William Paterson University will prepare you as a scholar-practitioner to solve practical, everyday problems and provide executive leadership in a broad spectrum of disciplines and settings. The program is built on a research-based, multidisciplinary theoretical foundation to develop the whole person as a leader. It is designed to foster growth personally and professionally through guided introspection and shared reflection.

This program brings together aspiring leaders in a cohort format. In the classroom and in practice, doctoral candidates learn and grow in an environment that is respectful and celebrates each person’s unique characteristics and experiences. Through practical, real-world simulations and experiences, doctoral candidates learn to act with vision and purpose to lead and transform organizations.

With a historically informed perspective, graduates will embody an understanding of the complexity of social and cultural influences in our global society. By example and design, graduates will serve to maximize potential and recognize and develop leadership skills in others in order to promote fairness, equity, and social justice among the next generation of organizational leaders.

Leader Learner Community

The Leader Learner Community, a signature concept of the EdD in Leadership program at William Paterson University, brings together teams of three to five doctoral candidates with similar career interests. They support and challenge one another under the egis of a faculty mentor from their first semester in the program through the dissertation process.

Whether you intend to remain in a current leadership position, grow into other leadership positions, or change professions entirely, you will benefit from ongoing professional learning. You will participate in reciprocal peer mentoring along with the guidance of seasoned professionals. Simultaneously, you will develop a deeper theoretical knowledge of leadership and its application that is essential to growth and advancement. The Leader Learner Community (LLC) assumes that both experienced faculty mentors and fellow candidates are experts and shareholders in the lifecycle of professional leading and learning. Faculty mentors will engage candidates in developing their expertise in the application of research to practice, the analysis of professional literature, and scholarly writing.

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