Cooperative Degree Programs

Ed.D. Program with Peking University

Penn Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) has broken new ground internationally by helping Peking University in Beijing, with permission from the Chinese Ministry of Education, establish the first-ever Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) program in China. This new program, a practical departure from the more theoretical Ph.D. programs already offered, will be instrumental in transforming the Chinese higher educational system by providing an option for further study for administrators. The program is designed to allow participants to tap into the experiences and resources of other world-class universities in order to improve the Chinese universities they administer.

Educators from Thailand, Japan, and China met in Bangkok in June 2002 to discuss the creation of the International Executive Ed.D. Program. In September 2003, fifteen high-level administrators of major Chinese universities began the three-year program, the focus of which is higher education finance. The students will do the majority of coursework at Peking University, traveling to Penn for intensive internships and English language courses during the summer of 2005. They will return to Beijing to compile their research and write their dissertation, ultimately being awarded an Ed.D. from Peking University.

As part of the special relationship between Penn and Peking, the Vice Dean of Peking GSE, Wen Dongmao, has visited Penn GSE to observe Penn's regular and executive Ed.D. programs during a one month visit in November 2004.

Ed.D. Program with East China Normal University

In addition to the Peking University program, the East China Normal University in Shanghai began a similar joint program with Penn GSE in autumn 2004, focusing on curriculum development and strategic planning.

The first cohort of 14 students arrived on the Penn campus in the fall of 2006 for an intensive 12-week course designed to expand the students' understanding of cutting-edge issues in American education and introduce an international comparative element to their doctoral research. The students participated in seminars conducted by faculty and guest speakers on education management at the senior administrative level, including the effects of globalization, global competitiveness, diversity, institutional ranking, leadership and governance, student affairs, and community and government relations.

Through visits to area school districts, students had the opportunity to observe both public and private K-12 education in action. Site visits also introduced them to the broad range of higher education available in the United States, from Ivy League universities to smaller private colleges to the large state systems, and even to the rising availability of computer-based distance learning. At the end of their program at Penn, the students were required to give oral presentations, in English, introducing their doctoral research projects and indicating how their term of study at Penn had changed or expanded these projects.