Ed.D. Career & Technical Education Leadership Online

UW-Stout’s Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Career & Technical Education Leadership prepares you for a leadership role in secondary and postsecondary education. Our program builds upon your professional experiences to help you develop the vision, strategy and administrative qualities essential to managing and leading institutions of workforce education, including secondary divisions of career and technical education and vocational education.

UW-Stout's fully online Doctor of Education degree program has a few select openings for well-qualified individuals interested in pursuing leadership roles in career, technical, and workforce education. We encourage you to request a Zoom or Teams webinar meeting with Dr. Michael Selover, Professor & Program Director, Ed.D. in CTE-Leadership.

Applied Research-Focused Curriculum

As opposed to the more theoretical and philosophical focus of the Ph.D., the Ed.D. doctoral program has an applied research focus. Through applied academics, you will learn to shape the current and future systems, affect their vision, purpose and design. You will accomplish this through applied research, strategic planning and mindful leadership.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Career & Technical Education Leadership Graduates

• Effectively lead educational institutions with continual improvement processes
• Engage with business and industry entities and establish key relationships
• Use, analyze and synthesize data for program planning and decision-making
• Develop faculty and staff to be leaders in their respective fields

Program Highlights

• Course delivery includes online and scheduled synchronous webinar-seminars
• Earn a degree in three years while working full time
• Financial support available, including student loans, scholarships, and graduate assistantships
• Applications accepted and reviewed each spring

Educational Cohorts

Once enrolled in the Ed.D. Career & Technical Education Leadership program, you will progress through the educational experience as part of an executive cohort. Cohorts range in size from 12-18 students, with an average student age of approximately 39 years.

Our program design has proven to be a collaborative community that works. Evidence of this is a high retention rate, student collegiality via a solid peer support system, and knowing program faculty in a face to face and online way. Together, the cohort supports you in making consistent progress through to your dissertation defense.

Program Design & Delivery

Cohort Model: (Cohort: Program students collectively onboard their doctoral journey, progress through an intentional sequence of courses, advance through their prelim, dissertation research, dissertation defense, and graduate together) yields exceptional doctoral degree completion. 

Program Course Delivery: Within the Ed.D. in CTEL program, online coursework is blended with webinar-seminars (online synchronous seminars) in key courses (19 Credits) while 21 credits are asynchronous online. Eight credits of electives may be taken via the delivery method of the student’s choice, and 12 Credits of dissertation research are completed independently, away from campus, and mentored by the dissertation advisor.  All seminars are designed on the premise that synchronous online experiences foster deeper learning and connection across cohort members; thereby, supporting the collective and individual cohort members personally and professionally along the learning journey.

Webinar-Seminar Experience: The CTE-L Doctoral program leverages online learning with three synchronous online Webinar-Seminars each semester along with two synchronous Webinar-Seminar in the summer session. The program's cohort design has proven to be a collaborative community that works. Evidence of this is a high retention rate and student collegiality via a solid peer support system. Together, we support you in making consistent progress through your dissertation defense.

*Seminars are part of select courses, 2 per semester and 1 per summer term.

**Dates are selected in a manner to accommodate common professional conferences and holidays 

Schedule & Courses Associated with Webinar-Seminars

For more information on course sequence, program goals and student expectations, download the Ed.D. CTEL Student Handbook

Tuition & Fees

Customized Instruction at UW Stout can be described as programs that are designed with the adult learner in mind. If you're comparing UW-Stout's customized instruction tuition to our competitors, keep in mind:

• Customized instruction tuition rate includes the textbook rental fee.
• There are no additional university-based semester or technology fees.
• Students in customized instruction programs pay the same rate of tuition regardless if Wisconsin residents, out-of-state or international participants.

Value for Your Money

There’s more to value than just tuition. UW Stout also provides:

• Program Director – faculty with discipline expertise.
• Student Services adviser – one point of contact, providing support to students for each program.
• Course sequences and matrices – know what courses are offered when so you can plan ahead.
• Courses and programs may be stackable for use in another program.
• Courses are flexible and convenient for working professionals.

Other universities will present costs and value differently - make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

Why an Ed.D vs. Ph.D. in CTEL

The EdD (Doctor of Education) is focused on education practitioners and leaders aiming to identify and solve complex problems in education.  In comparison, a Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy) aims to prepare scholars and professional researchers contributing to new knowledge. The pragmatic Ed.D focuses on developing thoughtful and responsive leaders through advanced knowledge and practice contribution. 

The Ed.D is the terminal degree for those seeking to lead, administer, and manage educational institutions and programs. Its courses are thematic, reflective, and applicable to the field of practice in Career and Technical Education Leadership. Research spans the breadth of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Research outcome embrace theory to drive knowledge and practice in the Career and Technical Education Leadership. The dissertation results in data-informed findings, discussion, and recommendations intent on decision-making and advancement for influencing practice in the field.