Introduction
Students completing this program earn a Doctorate of Education (EdD) in the area of Leadership for Educational Equity.
The EdD program is a practice-based, doctoral-level online program for professional leadership in PK-20 and community-based education and other organizational contexts. The EdD prepares leaders to address complex educational challenges, effectively translate research into practice, influence policy, use data in decision-making, and organize individuals and groups to address challenges collaboratively and successfully. The EdD program’s equips educational leaders to recognize, identify, and eliminate those systems that create disparities, and improve policy, structures, and practices to ensure opportunities and participation for all individuals.
The EdD program uses a cohort model. Students in the EdD program select a concentration area and work with faculty mentors with expertise in the research and traditions of practice in the concentration area.
Students follow their cohort taking coursework and research activities in a three or four year plan of study. Courses are offered virtually with online asynchronous and remote synchronous courses.
Concentration Areas
The Executive Leadership (LEO) concentration is designed for professionals in leadership positions in educational, community, and non-profit organizations who wish to acquire learning and experiences related to personnel management, finance, accountability systems, evaluation, community relations, policy development, analysis, and research. This Concentration Area supports learning activities for individuals who hold or seek to move into senior leadership positions within school districts, community colleges, education policy organizations, and community-based education organizations. Leadership roles may include those of director, deputy, superintendent, or executive officer
The Higher Education concentration empowers students to join leadership discussions at the highest level in colleges and universities. Students in this concentration have a strong passion for educational access, equity, and social justice. They want to be empowered with tools for positive change to impact student success. Graduates of CU Denver’s Doctor of Education (EdD) concentration in higher education will be effective leaders who are passionate about educational access, equity, and social justice in colleges and universities worldwide. The Higher Education Concentration Area uniquely includes a summer residential intensive class each of the three years students are enrolled in the program. The Higher Education concentration also provides a unique executive coaching support service (for a maximum of 12 months post-graduation) that students may choose to receive after completion of the EdD program. Topics of study in the Higher Education concentration include leadership skills to improve access, equity, and success for college and university students; power and privilege; law and ethics; organizational cultures; finance and strategic resource allocations; and predictive analytics.
The Early Childhood Education (ECE) concentration is designed for educational professionals interested in issues and practices in early childhood education to improve outcomes for children across early childhood settings. The program supports administrators in districts, agencies, and programs to effectively improve outcomes for all children, including children with disabilities.
The Justice, Equity, and Diverse Identities (JEDI) concentration focuses on education for justice, equity, and diverse identities (e.g., Latiné, Black, AANAPI, LGBTQIA+, and dis/ability) and allows students to pursue research of interest that is adjacent to or within another concentration area. The concentration area is designed to equip educators with the knowledge and resources to see opportunities in the range of complex challenges facing the education system and ground their approach in transdisciplinary and critical frameworks to advocate for educational equity and transformative, liberatory education. This concentration includes synchronous and asynchronous course work.
The STEM Education concentration prepares educators and leaders to advance equity and innovation in STEM learning environments. Coursework emphasizes equity-driven leadership, applied research, and transformative teaching and learning practices across PK–20 settings. Students critically examine STEM education through interdisciplinary lenses, engaging with research, pedagogy, and leadership to ensure access to high-quality learning for diverse learners.
The Learning Design concentration engages doctoral students in the creation, implementation, and study of learning design, learner-centered design approaches, and design-justice practices across academic, corporate, and community settings. Doctoral coursework is grounded in literature about equity-oriented learning; principles of design justice and learner-centered design; the impact of learning design on individuals and communities; and design-based research methods. Students who pursue this concentration are guided to implement doctoral research that centers on the role and value of lived experience and directly influences real-world problems of professional practice.
Program Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| EDFN 7410 | Power and Privilege: The Social Construction of Difference | 3 |
| EDUC 7100 | Leadership in Education | 3 |
| 3 |
| Organizational Performance In Educational Contexts | |
| Power of Data | |
| 3 |
| Learning and Human Development | |
| Designing Professional Learning | |
| Applied Research Methods I | |
| Applied Research Methods II | |
| Applied Research Methods III | |
| |
| Total Hours | 54 |
Program Requirements - Higher Education Concentration
Students completing this program earn a Doctorate of Education (EdD) in the area of Leadership for Educational Equity in the Higher Education Concentration Area. Within this three-year program, all students complete 8-week online courses with required activities and in-person one-week intensives with required attendance/activities.
The EdD in Higher Education concentration 54 credits include the following course work and research activities:
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| Leadership in Education | |
| Power and Privilege: The Social Construction of Difference | |
| Organizational Performance In Educational Contexts | |
| Applied Research Methods I | |
| Applied Research Methods II | |
| Applied Research Methods III | |
| Higher Education Policy and Governance | |
| Strategic Enrollment Management in Higher Education | |
| Contemporary Issues in Higher Education | |
| Higher Eduction Finance and Strategic Resource Allocation | |
| Data-Informed Decision-Making and Predictives in HED | |
| Decision-making, Conflict Resolution, & Equity in Higher Education | |
| Law and Ethics in Higher Ed and Student Affairs | |
| |
| Total Hours | 54 |
The following five learner outcomes are expectations of the EdD program:
- Analyze and critically evaluate educational theories, policies, research, and practices intended to improve equity and social justice.
- Collaborate with others to set direction, design, and enact improvements as a leader in education, work, or community settings.
- Apply principles of individual and organizational learning to effect positive change.
- Design and conduct research and inquiry to improve practice and promote equity.
- Communicate effectively to scholarly and practitioner audiences.
