Degrees

The Doctor of Education prepares students as professional leaders, educators and practitioner-scholars who actualize the knowledge base in their respective field. Students will:

• Create and model ethical evidence-based best practices

• Lead organizational change 

• Establish a caring and collaborative learning community

• Support the principles of teaching and learning practices

• Utilize the principles of effective leadership

• Develop proficiency utilizing and applying technologies

• Evaluate the individual, organizational, and societal contexts of learning

• Design research that addresses professional policy issues

• Integrate ethical sensitivity toward diversity and social justice in research, teaching and learning

The Doctor of Philosophy prepares students as researchers, faculty and/or discipline-based scholars who contribute to the knowledge base of their respective fields. Students will:

• Engage in ethical, empirical, theoretical, and/or conceptual inquiry

• Develop an active research agenda

• Engage in grant-writing, proposal and manuscript preparation and presentations

• Develop understanding of pedagogies and content 

• Contribute to professional organizations, societies and/or academies

• Engage in appropriate outreach/service 

• Integrate ethical sensitivity toward diversity and social justice in research, teaching and learning

A Ph.D. in Adult, Organizational Learning and Leadership will prepare you to lead and teach professional development and training programs as a leader or educator. This doctorate program at the University of Idaho prepares students in a wide range of careers including higher education, business, government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

• View Ph.D. study plan

The Ph.D. specialization at the University of Idaho is designed to prepare prospective university faculty and leaders to teach, conduct and disseminate research and secure funding for research in the area of autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities. This highly structured program is designed to accommodate full- and part-time doctoral students both at a distance and on campus, and to produce high-quality leaders that are philosophically oriented toward family involvement, cultural competency, inclusive and multi-tiered supports, evidence-based interventions and research to practice scholarship.

• View Ph.D. study guide

This program prepares education professionals for leadership positions in public or private education systems, including K-12 districts and community colleges. The degree is designed for experienced educators who want to perform and apply research to address practical problems relevant to their personal careers and local educational landscapes. As a student in this program, you will lead original dissertation research, likely within the context of your professional work, with a focus primarily on real-world, real-time applications in your local community. Students graduate proficient in program evaluation, case study and action research.

• View Ph.D. study plan
• View Ed.D. study plan

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

This program offers opportunities to contribute to national and international conversations surrounding the many complex issues in today’s educational system. This research-oriented program is designed primarily, but not exclusively, for students who want research and/or teaching careers in higher education. As a student in the program, you will design and implement original dissertation research to address a specific problem or issue in the field of education. Your work should lead to publishable articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Students in this program become proficient in advanced statistical and qualitative research methodologies and gain the skills to lead further research in their professional careers in academia.

• View Ph.D. study plan

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This program prepares education professionals for leadership positions in public or private education systems, including K-12 districts and community colleges. The degree is designed for experienced educators who want to perform and apply research to address practical problems relevant to their personal careers and local educational landscapes. As a student in this program, you will lead original dissertation research, likely within the context of your professional work, with a focus primarily on real-world, real-time applications in your local community. Students graduate proficient in program evaluation, case study and action research.

• View Ed.D. study plan

A Doctor of Education (Ed.D) or a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree with an educational leadership emphasis is for students who want to learn advanced skills and theories that will help inform and improve research and practice. This degree prepares students to assume positions as research-based faculty members in universities, high-level administrators and analysts in schools, school districts and in state and national-level agencies. The doctorate can also open doors in the private sector as a consultant and CEO.

• View Ph.D. study plan
• View Ed.D. study plan

This Ph.D. program prepares you to help advance the field of exercise science through teaching, research and service at universities or other exercise-related institutions. As a student in the program, you will focus your doctoral studies in biomechanics, exercise physiology or sport psychology. You also will lead independent research in the field, with opportunities to conduct performance, physiological or motor-skills tests in the on-campus Human Performance Laboratory which houses the Exercise Physiology Lab and the Biomechanics Lab.

• View Ph.D. study plan

This Ph.D. program prepares you to help advance the field of exercise science through teaching, research and service at universities or other exercise-related institutions. As a student in the program, you will focus your doctoral studies in biomechanics, exercise physiology or sport psychology. You also will lead independent research in the field, with opportunities to conduct performance, physiological or motor-skills tests in the on-campus Human Performance Laboratory which houses the Exercise Physiology Lab and the Biomechanics Lab.

• View Ph.D. study plan

The College of Education, Health and Human Sciences (EHHS) has a specialization in STEM education within its Ph.D. in education. The college focuses on the disciplines within STEM not only because the skills and knowledge in each discipline are essential for student success, but also because these disciplines are deeply intertwined in the real world and in how students learn most effectively.

There are various areas of expertise and experience in EHHS that include but are not limited to:

• K-12 STEM Education
• Math and Science Education
• Engineering and Technology Education
• Indigenous STEM Education
• Experiential STEM Education

Because there is so much variance among study plans in the STEM Education specialization based on students’ backgrounds and focus, a sample program sheet is not provided. Contact the associate dean for the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences for specific information regarding a given focus within STEM Education.