Doctor of Education – Educational Leadership online
Earn your doctoral degree and become a leader in your industry.
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Program Overview
Learn more about our online educational leadership program.
$24,900*
In-State Tuition
As few as 32 months
Program Duration
60
Credit Hours
Prepare for elevated roles in public, private, and charter schools as well as health and human service agencies by earning your Doctor of Education – Educational Leadership online from YSU. You will expand your expertise to apply educational management and leadership best practices in a variety of organizational settings.
Our dedicated faculty combine engaging instruction with real-world application, including clinical experience and an embedded dissertation. Develop your research knowledge and skills as you build your capacity to provide effective administrative guidance in professions such as University Faculty, Regional Leader, Director of Human Resources, and more.
This innovative online Ed.D. features a rigorous curriculum that aligns with state and national standards (ELCC, NELP, OPS, and OSS)—delivered in a dynamic learning environment designed to be flexible for working professionals. Plus, you can transfer up to 15 credit hours of post-master's coursework toward elective and required clinical hours. Become a distinguished Youngstown State University alum and earn your doctoral degree online in as few as 32 months!
The educator preparation programs at Youngstown State University meet rigorous national standards for educator preparation set by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). For more information, contact CAEP by mail at 1140 19th St. NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036 or by phone at 202-223-0077.
Graduate this online Ed.D. program prepared for a variety of elevated roles, including:
- Teacher K-12
- Regional Leader
- Higher Education Faculty
In this online Ed.D. program, you will learn to:
- Collaboratively lead, design and implement a district mission, vision and process for continuous improvement that reflects a core set of values and priorities
- Promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult by applying ethical decisions and cultivate and enact professional norms
- Develop and maintain a supportive, equitable, culturally responsive and inclusive district culture
- Engage families, community, and other constituents in the work of schools and the district and to advocate for district, student and community needs
- Develop, monitor, evaluate and manage data-informed and equitable district systems for operations, resources, and human capital management
- Cultivate relationships, lead collaborative decision making and governance, and represent and advocate for district needs in broader policy conversations
- Synthesize and apply the above outcomes through substantial, sustained, standards-based work in real district settings
- Collaboratively lead, design and implement a district mission, vision and process for continuous improvement that reflects a core set of values and priorities
- Promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult by applying ethical decisions and cultivate and enact professional norms
- Develop and maintain a supportive, equitable, culturally responsive and inclusive district culture
- Engage families, community, and other constituents in the work of schools and the district and to advocate for district, student and community needs
- Develop, monitor, evaluate and manage data-informed and equitable district systems for operations, resources, and human capital management
- Cultivate relationships, lead collaborative decision making and governance, and represent and advocate for district needs in broader policy conversations
- Synthesize and apply the above outcomes through substantial, sustained, standards-based work in real district settings
Nationally recognized by the Educational Leadership Constituent Council
Tuition
This online Ed.D. costs less than you think.
YSU offers students the opportunity to earn their online degree with affordable, pay-as-you-go tuition.
Tuition breakdown:
$415*
Per Credit Hour
$24,900*
Total Tuition
*In-state tuition.
Note: No payment plans are available for accelerated online students.
“Recognizing the constituency that was underserved in that way by the rigid nature of traditional doctoral programming without sacrificing the integrity of the experience and getting over the hurdles that make it accessible to people was far more valuable than the degree at the end of it, it was a great experience.”
Dr. Timothy Freeman 
“Those connections, those relationships that I have with my classmates, as well as those with the instructors, are critical to my success. At any point, I could pick up the phone and reach out to anyone in those circles, and they would be there to support me.”
Holly Schafer 
“Those courses will teach you how to manage an actual school setting or school district. The folks who are teaching those classes have been in the trenches. They understand the process from a practitioner’s lens.”
Jeremy Batchelor 
“The Ed.D. program helped me to understand how to develop research protocols and qualitative or quantitative studies, it gave me the confidence to help students develop their own research protocols and investigations.”
Kelly Colwell 
“I like that the program doesn’t take forever. A lot of doctoral programs take years and years, and I didn’t want to take that long. I wanted to have a clear finish line.”
Lashonda Abdussatar 
“Leadership is leadership, the faculty were phenomenally flexible about allowing you to input your own experiences into the concepts they were teaching.”
Nicholas Cascarelli 
Previous
Next
Calendar
Take note of important program milestones.
At YSU, we offer multiple start dates throughout the year so you never have to wait long to get started on your online degree program. View the chart below to find upcoming start dates, along with important deadlines, such as when your application should be submitted and when payments are due.
Next Start & Application Due Dates:
6/9/25
Next Application Deadline
6/30/25
Start Classes
| First Starts | Program Start Date | Application Deadline | Document Deadline | Registration Deadline | Tuition Deadline | Last Class Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1 | 5/12/25 | 4/21/25 | 4/28/25 | 5/7/25 | 5/9/25 | 6/22/25 |
| Summer 2 | 6/30/25 | 6/9/25 | 6/16/25 | 6/25/25 | 6/27/25 | 8/9/25 |
| Fall 1 | 8/25/25 | 8/4/25 | 8/11/25 | 8/20/25 | 8/22/25 | 10/12/25 |
| Fall 2 | 10/20/25 | 9/29/25 | 10/6/25 | 10/15/25 | 10/17/25 | 12/7/25 |
Admissions
Follow our streamlined admission requirements.
YSU's online Ed.D. programs have specific requirements that applicants must meet to enroll. Please read the admission guidelines to ensure you qualify.
Online application
Master's degree
Minimum 3.25 GPA
GRE Waiver Available
Online application
Master's degree
Minimum 3.25 GPA
GRE Waiver Available
Courses
Take a closer look at our online educational leadership classes.
In order to earn the Doctor of Education – Educational Leadership online, you must complete a total of 60 credit hours. Required coursework is comprised of 24 credit hours of doctoral educational leadership core, 9 credit hours of doctoral educational research core, 12 credit hours of dissertation studies, 3 credit hours of clinical experience, and 12 credit hours of electives relevant to your primary professional discipline, including leadership in public and non-public schools or health and human services.
EDAD 8122: Leadership in Education
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
In this course students will critically analyze contemporary ways of thinking about leadership. As students examine their present paradigm of leadership, they will also analyze a reconfiguration of leadership that reflects developments in the new sciences and other fields.
EDAD 8130: Learning Processes & The Instructional Leader
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A study of current theories and research in the areas of cognition and learning, development, and motivation that underlay approaches to teaching in any context. Primary topics will include social cognition, interpersonal relationships, group processes, and intergroup relations, as well as applied issues.
EDAD 8142: Educational Decision-Making & Ethical Problem Solving
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will teach students how to make competent leadership decisions by applying and enforcing ethical standards with followers. Ethics is at the heart of leadership. Leaders must make every effort to make ethical decisions and foster ethical behavior among followers. In this course students will explore the ethical demands of leadership. We draw from many fields of research to help students make ethical decisions, lead with integrity, and create an ethical culture. This course is designed to increase students’ ethical competence and leadership abilities.
FOUN 8102: Perspectives on Leadership Among Diverse Populations
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An explorative study of constructs and concepts of cultural diversity within groups based on notions of class, race, gender, sexual orientation, educational status, mental and physical ability, religion, ethnicity, class. Consideration for expectations and organizational practices as informed by diversity issues.
EDAD 8135: Building Organizational Culture & Community Partnerships
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Building Organizational Culture and Community Partnerships is designed in accordance with the National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) District Level Program Standards, Standard 5. Candidates in this educational leadership preparation course will learn to apply new knowledge and skills to engage families, communities, and related business partnerships to meet student and community cultural and environmental needs. An examination of the school and community culture will contribute to the essential objectives of the course.
EDAD 8125: Educational Politics & Policymaking in the US
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Reviews professional literature on politics and policy making at the local, state, and federal level, including the values, institutional actors, processes, and interest groups that shape educational policy. Explores means of identifying problems, analyzing policy alternatives, and measuring policy outcomes.
EDAD 8155: Seminar in Current Issues
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Informing educational leaders about contextual issues of schools is necessary in order to understand and recognize that school reform, both at the time of its proposal and during the developmental stages of its implementation, is intended to ameliorate educational problems.
EDAD 8140: Seminar in Administrative Theory
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Extension of the administrator's abilities to analyze professional problems, develop leadership strategies, and exercise sound decision making. Nontraditional (nonfunctionalist) theories are stressed, with emphasis on deconstructing and purposefully framing educational issues. Case studies strengthen the application of the theories.
FOUN 8104: Research Strategies in Educational Administration
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of major research methodologies and a preview of the different paradigms and assumptions that underlie controlled disciplined inquiries. Techniques associated with particular methodologies in educational administration will be introduced, and their strengths and weaknesses will be analyzed.
FOUN 8111: Advanced Research Design & Statistics
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
An in-depth treatment of the major correlational, experimental, and quasi-experimental research designs and associated statistical analyses, including the design and analysis of surveys and factor analytic techniques. Experience in data analysis using SPSS or other statistical packages.
FOUN 8112: Qualitative Research for Educators
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Consideration of evolving and qualitative methods and literature that apply to doctoral study of problems in teaching, school leadership, and school change.
Choose one of the following courses. If the student chooses the first course, it must be taken 3 times to fulfill program requirements:
EDAD 7022: Clinical Experience: The Principalship
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 1
Completed in a school covered by teaching certificate or license. Second administrative clinical experience designed to highlight tasks. May be repeated for credit to fulfill program requirements.
EDAD 7050: Clinical Experience: Superintendency
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Candidates for the superintendency license are required to complete four tasks from the master syllabus at the district-wide level, supervised by a school superintendent. Major components are the complete analysis of the financial structure of the candidate's school district and a system-level integrated project.
EDAD 7040: Clinical Practice for the Administrative Specialist
Duration: 7 weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Candidates for administrative specialist licenses in areas of curriculum, instruction, and professional development or pupil services administration develop an individualized clinical plan and complete a set of tasks and an integrated project aligned with professional standards under the guidance of an appropriately licensed cooperating administrator.
EDAD 8191: Seminar in Educational Research - Dissertation: Review of Literature
Duration: 14 weeks
Credit Hours: 2
Students will build knowledge and skills in conducting a literature review to complete Chapter 2 of their dissertation. Writing will be broken down into manageable milestones, following the guidelines set forth by the YSU Educational Leadership Dissertation Guidelines and template.
EDAD 8192: Seminar in Educational Research - Dissertation: Introduction & Proposal Defense
Duration: 14 weeks
Credit Hours: 2
This course is the for Doctoral Candidates who are in the process of developing and completing Chapter 1 of their dissertation, which includes the background to the problem, problem statement, purpose statement, theoretical frame, limitation, operational definitions, methods, etc. relevant to the proposed research study. Finally, candidates will develop a presentation and defend their proposal to their committee.
EDAD 8193: Seminar in Educational Research - Dissertation: Methodology
Duration: 14 weeks
Credit Hours: 2
Students will build knowledge and skills in developing Chapter 3 of their dissertation. Writing of Chapter 3 will be broken down into manageable milestones, following the guidelines set forth in the YSU Educational Leadership Dissertation Guidelines and template.
EDAD 8194: Seminar in Educational Research - Dissertation: Data Collection & Analysis
Duration: 14 weeks
Credit Hours: 2
Students will build candidate knowledge and skills in developing Chapter 4 of their dissertation, which includes collecting data, completing the data analysis, and writing up their findings. Writing will be broken down into manageable milestones, following the guidelines set forth in the YSU Educational Leadership Dissertation Guidelines and template.
EDAD 8195: Seminar in Educational Research - Dissertation: Results & Discussion
Duration: 14 weeks
Credit Hours: 2
Students will gain knowledge and skills in developing Chapter 5 of their dissertation, which will discuss the findings and their implications. Writing of the chapter will be broken down into manageable milestones, following the guidelines set forth by the YSU Educational Leadership Dissertation Guidelines and template.
EDAD 8196: Seminar in Educational Research - Dissertation: Defense
Duration: 14 weeks
Credit Hours: 2
Doctoral candidates, nearing the end of the dissertation process, will prepare and defend their dissertation proposal to their committee. Finally, they will prepare the final version of their dissertation for submission to the Graduate school.
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