The Higher Education Management program is committed to advancing scholarship, research, and practice in the field of higher education. Designed for domestic and international students who aspire to careers as scholar-researchers, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree prepares students for positions as university faculty, researchers at educational think tanks and major policy institutes, and as leaders of administrative units with teaching and research responsibilities. Students pursuing a PhD in higher education have research interests ranging from student access to student outcomes, diversity and equity, international and comparative education, administration and management, and policy studies.
Students pursuing the PhD degree have widespread opportunities to engage closely with and learn from faculty who conduct cutting-edge research in the field and who have a strong commitment to high-quality teaching. Students are afforded the opportunity to work with faculty members to conduct research, present at professional conferences, and publish prior to the completion of their degrees. The faculty have expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and do both applied and basic research, all with a focus on improving educational outcomes.
The PhD degree program in higher education includes a core set of courses designed for students to gain an understanding of historical, political, philosophical, and social elements that shape and continue to reshape higher education. The core courses are complemented by additional courses in higher education and within the School of Education designed to ground students in the study of their discipline as they develop an area of reserch specialization within the field of higher education. Students also take a series of courses outside of the School of Education to complement their research specialization. In addition, through a strong focus within the program on rigorous methodological training, students gain competency in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and take advanced courses in the methodological approaches they plan to utilize in their research.
