About the Program

Carolina’s Educational Leadership doctoral program develops senior administrative leaders for K-12 school districts throughout the nation. The program prepares central-level leaders to excel in an ever-changing national, state and local educational environment.

Convenient Courses

The Ed.D. program is designed to fit into the lives of busy educational leaders. Most students participate in the program on a part-time basis and typically take two courses per term. Courses are offered in the evenings and are scheduled so that many students take two classes in one evening.

Educational Specialist (Ed.S.)

The Educational Specialist licensure program in Educational Leadership is advanced study beyond the master’s degree and is designed to prepare students for leadership and administration at the district office level of a K-12 school system.

Completion of the program typically leads to either North Carolina Level I (Entry-level Principal) or North Carolina Level II (Advanced Principal) licensure and includes a Superintendent Concentration.

The Ed.S. licensure program is essentially a subset of the Ed.D. degree program. Obtaining the Ed.S. and North Carolina administrative licensure (AP/AS) can lead to salary increases for some administrative professionals in North Carolina.

School Administration Add-on Licensure

The Educational Leadership Area strongly recommends that all accepted Ed.S./Ed.D. students who are not currently licensed as school administrators become licensed during the course of their studies.

School Administration Add-on Licensure

Academic Programs