The Ed.D. program has been designed for candidates who have demonstrated the potential for doctoral study and leadership, as substantiated during the admission process, and obtained a master's degree in education or a closely related field from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 3.5.

Requirements:

Please submit the following program admission documents to the Director of Graduate Admissions.

  1. A Graduate Application for Admission
  2. A $50 non-refundable application fee
  3. Your sealed official transcript from each post-secondary institution attended
  4. Current resume or vita
  5. Three current letters of recommendation on CUI online or PDF forms - one completed by the applicant's supervisor and two from persons who can attest to your potential for doctoral study and leadership
  6. A Statement of Intent. This should be a double-spaced, five to seven pages in length detailing the applicant's: a) educational goals b) short- and long-term professional goals c) professional activities d) research interests to be pursued in the program e) research experience f) distance learning experience and g) reasons for choosing the CUI doctoral program.
  7. A seven to ten-page writing sample that demonstrates the applicant’s ability to write cogently and use research and professional literature effectively in developing ideas and arguments (e.g., a master’s thesis, a scholarly article published in a journal, a comprehensive course paper, or a major district report)
  8. A valid California Certificate of Clearance (a copy of a valid California credential may be used in lieu of a certificate)

All program admission documents must be submitted before an application file is considered complete.

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After you submit your application

  • Each Ed.D. application file is evaluated as a whole by a doctoral faculty committee to determine if the prospective candidate should be contacted for an in-person interview.
  • During the in-person interview, the prospective candidate meets with the Executive Director of the Ed.D. program and possibly one or more program faculty. You will be asked to discuss how your interest in the doctoral program in educational leadership relates to your career goals, what experience you may have with online learning environments, your interests in scholarship, prior research activities, and how future educational pursuits align with the overall mission of Concordia University, Irvine.
  • Within two weeks of the interview, you will be notified if you have been officially accepted to the Ed.D. program.

International Candidates

International candidates, who are English Language Learners (ELL), are required to submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores that must have been taken within two years prior to your submission of the Graduate Application for Admission. Scoring requirements should meet or exceed the minimum TOTAL score and the minimum score for each of the four (4) sections, although these scores may not necessarily disqualify a candidate from admission into the program. The scoring is as follows:

  • Reading: 24
  • Listening: 24
  • Speaking: 26
  • Writing: 26
  • Total: 100
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