Ph.D. Program in Educational Leadership: Higher Education

At Florida Atlantic University, tuition comes to 16,695 USD per year.

This Ph.D. program prepares individuals for leadership positions in community colleges, state colleges, colleges, and universities. It focuses on developing instructional and administrative leaders within higher education settings. The curriculum is structured around domains of leadership and management, higher education foundations, and research methodology.

Focus areas include university leadership, community college and state college leadership, student affairs leadership, instructional leadership, foundations of higher education, higher education policy.

The program requires a minimum of 84 credit hours, distributed across leadership foundations (15 credits), research foundations (18 credits), professional knowledge core and electives (24 credits), experiential components (12 credits), and dissertation (15 credits).

Graduates enter roles such as college and university presidents, provosts, vice presidents, deans, professors, policy analysts, and other higher education leadership positions.

Admission requires a Master's degree from a regionally accredited institution, a minimum 3.0 graduate GPA, three letters of recommendation, a personal objective essay, a resume, and an interview. International applicants must also provide a course-by-course transcript evaluation and meet English proficiency requirements with a TOEFL score of 500 (or IBT 61), IELTS 6.0, or Duolingo 90.

The programme totals about 84 credit hours. Courses are offered in a synchronous format via Zoom on evenings and Saturdays, with some potential for fully online formats without synchronous meetings. For international students, tuition is below the median for US programmes. The institution admits about 73% of applicants.

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton is a large public research university that blends strong academic offerings with a coastal campus environment. Founded in 1961, FAU serves a diverse student body across more than 200 programs spanning arts and sciences, engineering, business and health. Its South Florida location supports research in marine science, environmental studies and biotechnology, and gives students direct access to industry partners, internships and community engagement opportunities.

FAU emphasizes experiential learning and personalized support through advising, research centers and hands-on projects. Small to medium class sizes in many programs create close faculty-student interactions, while a wide range of student organizations and campus facilities nurture leadership and extracurricular growth. The university’s research infrastructure and partnerships provide pathways for applied work, recruitment and professional development in the region’s growing tech and health sectors.

International applicants will find FAU an attractive choice for career-focused education, with resources for global students and numerous academic pathways from undergraduate to graduate study. The university’s vibrant campus life, emphasis on employability and strong regional connections help graduates transition into work or advanced study. FAU suits students seeking an engaged, research-active institution with pragmatic support for career outcomes in a dynamic coastal setting.