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The Educational Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral program is available at multiple Virginia Tech campuses across Virginia. Designed for working professionals, the program is conducted on a part- or full-time basis, with coursework that balances modern theory with real-life practice. The vast majority of our doctoral students pursue the Ed.D., though a Ph.D. option is available.

For over forty years, the Virginia Tech Educational Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral Program has prepared aspiring educational administrators throughout the Commonwealth. Ed.D. graduates leave with the skills they need to lead ethically; advance equity and social justice in educational settings; consider and implement educational policy; lead innovative practices; communicate with diverse constituents; and improve the learning and well-being of all PK-12 students.

Our Nationally Recognized Program Faculty include widely published, nationally recognized authors and researchers with an average of over 20 years of experience working with PK-12 educators.

Ed.D. students complete approximately 69 hours of coursework on a part- or full-time basis. Typically, students attend two classes – totaling 6 credit hours – per semester. Students may attend fewer credit hours in Summer I or II, or more credit hours while working on their dissertation research. Students must be enrolled in at least 3-credits and one class for continuous enrollment. Courses are conducted in the evening or asynchronously to fit the schedules of full-time educators.

Virginia Tech offers the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Ed.D. program online and frequently in person at the five Virginia Tech extension sites: the Hampton Roads Center (Virginia Beach/Newport News), the Northern Virginia Center (in Falls Church), the Richmond Center, the Roanoke Higher Education Center, and the Southwest VA Higher Education Center (in Abingdon).

All Ed.D. students graduate with a minimum of 69 doctoral course credits, 30 transfer credits (from previous graduate coursework), totaling at least 99 credits in total. The degree may be completed in three years, though some students take additional semesters to complete their dissertations.

Courses are offered face-to-face, blended/hybrid, and online for most cohorts. For the online-only cohort, all courses are delivered virtually with synchronous and asynchronous classes.