University of Virginia Library

THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

The program for the Doctor of Education degree is designed to prepare the student within
a broad context for professional proficiency in the field of education. Candidates for this degree
must show evidence of competency and of ability to assume a position of leadership in the field of
education. The special requirements for the degree are shown below.

Admission: A student seeking admission to candidacy to this degree shall have approved
baccalaureate and master's degrees. The candidate must have had successful experience in the field
of education. Admission of the candidate in the Department of Education must be approved by the
Dean.

Program: A student seeking candidacy to the Doctor of Education degree may satisfy residence
requirements by one of two patterns: (1) he may register continuously in graduate courses
until he had completed a minimum of thirty semester-hours. Eighteen of these must be done in
courses in residence. The remaining twelve hours may be completed through doctoral seminars offered
in extension, (2) he may register for one session of two full semesters work in residence.
A complete program showing the courses the student expects to pursue in meeting the requirements
for the Doctor of Education degree must be filed with the Dean of the Department of Education by
the end of the first semester after admission to graduate study for this degree.

Advisory Committee: At the time of registration each student will select, in consultation
with the Dean of the Department of Education, an adviser who will approve the student's initial
registration

During the first semester of doctoral study the student and his adviser will recommend to
the Dean of the Department of Education two additional faculty members, who, along with the adviser,
will constitute the student's doctoral Advisory Committee.

Qualifying Examinations: The prospective candidate shall, after completing a minimum of
twelve semester-hours of work, take a qualifying examination in order to satisfy his Advisory Committee
that the depth and breadth of his professional knowledge is adequate for the pursuit of the
Doctor of Education degree.

Field of Concentration: After successful completion of the qualifying examinations the
student becomes eligible to pursue further work in selected fields of concentration. For this
phase of his program, he will select a minimum of three fields in which specialization will be developed,
and related to which it is expected that the dissertation will eventually be projected.

Supervised Field Study Project: Prior to the time the student undertakes the final
written examination on fields of concentration, he will undertake under the supervision of a member
of the staff of the Department of Education a supervised field study project. This project
will be carried out for the purpose of demonstrating ability to complete successfully an experiment
designed to improve an educational program. The quality of the demonstrated leadership throughout
this supervised field study project will be taken into account in the consideration of the student
for candidacy of the Doctor of Education degree.

Examination on Fields of Concentration and Field Study: At least one semester prior to
the date on which the candidate expects to receive the Doctor of Education degree, each candidate
must take a final written examination covering the three or more fields of concentration. In addition
to covering fields of concentration, this examination will also deal with his supervised field
study project.

The Dissertation: A candidate for the Doctor of Education degree will project and carry
out under the supervision of his Advisory Committee a research problem appropriate for a dissertation
for this degree. In general, this problem will grow out of an actual educational situation.
The dissertation may be undertaken with the approval of the Advisory Committee after the successful
completion of the qualifying examinations.

Defense of the Dissertation: When the dissertation has secured the approval of the members
of the student's Advisory Committee, the Dean of the Department of Education shall notify the
candidate of the time set for the defense of the dissertation. The examination committee shall
consist of not less than five members of the graduate faculty of the University of Virginia. Normally,
members of the student's Advisory Committee will serve on the examination committee. Members
of the examination committee must vote unanimously favorably in order for the student to be declared
eligible to receive the degree of Doctor of Education.

Transfer of Credit from Other Institutions: A student may be allowed, upon approval of
his Advisory Committee to apply a maximum of twelve semester-hours of graduate work beyond the
Master's degree earned in another approved institution to the requirements of the Doctor of Education
degree in the University of Virginia.