Thank You for Your Interest in the Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management

The Executive Doctorate is for executives and senior managers in higher education and related organizations. It offers an advanced curriculum centered squarely on the core management competencies and applied research skills that you, at the most senior levels, require. You will find our program to be a significant and exciting departure from doctoral programs in higher education elsewhere. Our systematic approach to both the curriculum and dissertation makes it possible for participants to complete their work and earn their degrees in two years, without career interruption.

Our colleagues are proud of the collegial spirit that we have infused into the program and the intellectual excitement that it generates among our students and our faculty alike. Our program has set the expectation that both faculty and students not only meet Penn GSE's standard for the doctor of education degree, but also exceed them. Ours is a model that dismisses the notion of attrition as an expected part of doctoral education. Our students support one another on an almost daily basis. We have challenged traditional assumptions about doctoral education, particular those that run counter to student success, strengthening our best traditions in education by drawing on effective models from law schools, business schools, and even the corporate sector.

While increased management and leadership skills are a natural product of the program, Exec Doc is not about mere competencies. Participation in this program provides a unique opportunity for those serving in senior leadership roles to step away from the day to day management of their institutions and, together with colleagues and senior faculty from around the country, examine and explore the future. We expect graduates of this program to play important roles in shaping the future of higher education.

We are always pleased to discuss our program, so please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions at hem@gse.upenn.edu or 1-877-PENN-GSE.

Blake Alan Naughton, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow and Director
The Executive Doctorate