The Executive Doctorate is structured such that all members of a cohort take classes together (there are no electives).  Coursework is a combination of classes that are year-long (meeting every month) and modular (meeting one or two months).  Course calendars are given to students well in advance, and due to the fast pace of the program and material covered in each session, attendance at all course sessions is mandatory.  In the weeks between class meetings, students can expect 15 or more hours of assigned or independent work per week – researching, reading, writing, etc.  Monthly class sessions generally require preparatory assignments (always readings and often papers), with post-class projects and papers due several weeks later.    

The Executive Doctorate begins with a week-long orientation and course session in August of The First Year.  For the subsequent ten months from September through June, students come for monthly course sessions that take place from about 10:00 a.m. Thursday through noon on Saturday.  The public policy seminar weekend, however, does not typically meet in Philadelphia, instead students engage in dialog with national leaders in either Washington, D.C. or Boulder, Colorado.  Milestones in The First Year include performance review and promotion to Program Candidacy (February); a Qualifying Paper submission and promotion to Doctoral Candidacy (April); and oral defense of the Dissertation Proposal (June). 

The Second Year begins with the international course and study abroad experience overseas, typically for one or two weeks in July.  Students return for six monthly course sessions from September through February, this time meeting from about 9:00 a.m. Friday through noon on Saturday.  During this time students work in earnest on their dissertation data collection, analysis, and write-up.  The final program milestone is the oral Dissertation Defense, typically held in March, followed, if successful, by final revisions and submission of the dissertation in April.  Penn commencement is mid-May.  

Example Weekend Schedule