Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)
The priority deadline for applications to Cohort 10 (to begin Fall 2025) is May 15, 2025.
The deadline for applications for Cohort 10 is May 30, 2025.
The Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership (DPEL) at CSU Bakersfield is focused on preparing equity-minded, scholarly PK-12 and higher education leaders. The DPEL prepares graduates to draw on theory and the professional literature base, utilize rigorous methods of inquiry to investigate and more deeply understand insidious problems of practice, conjecture evidence-based implications for policy and practice, and act as agents of change for organizational development within local educational institutions. The DPEL faculty include professors from CSU Bakersfield as well as local PK-12 and higher education leaders.
The DPEL...
- Offers the Educational Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership with two areas
of specialization:
- PK-12 Education Leadership, and
- Post-Secondary Education Leadership
- Offers courses on Saturdays to accommodate full-time working professionals
- Designed to allow for degree completion in a minimum of three years
- Prepares aspiring scholarly leaders to lead for equity-centered transformation
- Includes faculty who hail from a number of academic disciplines including educational administration, teacher education, business and public administration, sociology, as well as successful scholarly practitioners currently working in local educational institutions
A University System Commitment to Our Local Communities
Improving California's education system is part of the core function and mission of the California State University (CSU). The CSU system is particularly well-suited to provide opportunities and bring about more educational doctorates to underserved populations given its success in attracting, retaining, and graduating students from underrepresented groups. The CSU is practitioner-focused by design and history and has exceptionally close ties with PK-12 schools and districts—connections that have developed, in part, through the course of preparing so many PK-12 teachers, educational counselors, administrators, and leaders. As the university that is chosen by over 75% of community college students to complete their undergraduate degrees, the CSU is the institution with the strongest ties to California’s community college system.
Organizationally, the DPEL is situated within the College of Social Sciences and Education, governed by program faculty and our community advisory board, and administered by a director.
Would You Like to Know More About Joining the DPEL?
Please navigate to the Prospective Applicants page for more information about upcoming information sessions.