Admission

Applicants must hold the master's degree, must have completed at least three years of professional experience in an educationally related setting, and must submit Graduate Record Examination scores and an academic record acceptable to the department to which they apply. They also must complete a written instrument which assesses their knowledge of the requirements and duties of the professional roles to which they aspire and demonstrates their ability to write with clarity, organization and correctness.

Degree Plan

Each student's proposed degree plan will be individually designed on the basis of the student's career objectives and the competencies associated with the professional role to which the student aspires. It will contain a minimum of 64 semester hours, including the following components:

The degree plan must be filed with the Office of Graduate Studies following the deadline imposed by the student's college, and no later than 90 days prior to the preliminary examination. No exceptions are allowed.

Transfer of Credit

Courses for which transfer credits are sought must have been completed with a grade of B or greater and must be approved by the student's advisory committee and the Office of Graduate Studies. These courses must not have been used previously for another degree. Except for officially approved joint degree programs with other Texas A&M University System institutions, credit for theses or dissertation research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for "internship" course work in any form is not transferable. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the student was in degree-seeking status at Texas A&M University or at the institution at which the courses were taken, and if the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for students in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Credit for course work taken by extension is not transferable Course work in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A, B, C, etc.) are given (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit. Credit for course work submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours, or equated to semester credit hours. Courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPR. An official transcript from the university at which transfer courses are taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions and Records.

Residence

The residence requirement for the EdD degree is 30 resident credit semester hours. Of these 30 semester hours, at least 18 must be taken as a full-time student. The residence requirement must be fulfilled within five consecutive calendar years. This requirement may be satisfied by a student who presents any combination of full-time study during summer sessions of at least five weeks duration and/or work as a full-time student during regular sessions which totals in the aggregate at least 18 semester hours, accomplished within a five-year period beginning with the first course proposed to apply to this requirement.

Internship

Each EdD degree candidate will complete a university-directed internship in a professional employment setting with a minimum duration of 300 clock hours accrued at the rate of 10-40 hours per week. The internship will require of the student full participation and responsibility in experiences directly related to the student's career specialization. Credit for the internship will not be given for a continuation of regular employment activities (e.g., continuing to serve as a junior college teacher or as an elementary school principal), but only for completing an entirely new work experience. The internship may be on a paid or unpaid basis, must be undertaken after the student has a degree plan on file, and must be supported by prior or concurrent course work (usually toward the end of the degree program). Prior to its beginning, the internship must be approved in writing as to details by all members of the student's doctoral committee. At the conclusion of the internship, a formal written summary of its nature and results must be approved by the student's advisory committee.

Continuous Registration

Students in a program leading to the EdD who have completed all course work on their degree plans other than 692 (Professional Study) are required to be in continuous registration until all requirements for the degree have been completed. See Continuous Registration Requirements.

Record of Study

The EdD student will produce a major research document called a record of study. The research project may involve such topics as (1) a field study on a problem of major proportions in time or extent; (2) a curriculum development project validated through pilot and field testing; or (3) action research on a curricular, instructional, supervisory or administrative problem based on empirical data. The EdD student must have primary responsibility for the design and development of the research, and the record of study must be the sole and original work of the candidate.

Whatever the nature of the research project undertaken by the candidate, he or she will be required to prepare a record of study which explains and supports the activities undertaken in the project and supports its conclusions with adequate investigations, empirical data and a comprehensive bibliography. Procedures used in the student's research will be described in sufficient detail for educators in other locations to apply or extend the procedures. All records of study should be characterized by accuracy of observation and measurements, thoroughness of analysis and synthesis, and accuracy and completeness of presentation.

The record of study will follow the instructions in the Thesis Manual which may be purchased at the copy centers on campus and the MSC and Galveston campus bookstores. An online copy of the Thesis Manual can be accessed via the website vpr.tamu.edu/thesis.html. After successful defense and approval by the student's advisory committee and the head of the student's major department (and chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if appropriate), students must submit their record of study to the Thesis Office. Students have the option of submitting their record of study in paper format (two blue-line copies required) or electronic format (one pdf file required). Both formats require a signed original approval page (two on blue-line paper for paper submittal, one for electronic submittal).

Deadline dates for submitting are announced each semester or summer term in the Office of Graduate Studies Calendar (see Time Limit statement). These dates also can be accessed via the website vpr.tamu.edu.

Before a student can be "cleared" by the Thesis Office, a processing fee must be paid at the Fiscal Department. This processing fee includes a charge for microfilming services through UMI. After commencement, paper records of study are bound and microfilmed; electronic records of study are microfilmed and digitally stored.

A record of study that, because of excessive corrections, is deemed unacceptable by the Thesis Office will be returned to the student's department head. The manuscript must be resubmitted as a new document, and the entire review process must begin anew. All original submittal deadlines must be met during the resubmittal process in order to graduate.

Examinations

Each EdD degree candidate is required to take a departmentally prepared written qualifying examination prior to the completion of 30 hours of doctoral work. Although not an absolute requirement, the student is encouraged to take the required 6 hours of proseminar before taking the qualifying examination. Continuation in the program and/or any additional required study is dependent on the results of this qualifying examination. The chair of the student's advisory committee will report in writing to the Office of Graduate Studies the results of the qualifying examination. A positive vote by all members of the graduate committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on his or her exam. A department may have a stricter requirement provided there is consistency within all degree programs within a department.

In addition, each candidate must successfully complete an oral and written preliminary examination prior to admission to candidacy and a final oral examination upon completion of the record of study. Both of these examinations will conform to the requirements for the PhD preliminary examination and final examination.

Except as noted in the sections above, the requirements for the Doctor of Education degree are identical to those for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.