Doctor of Education Degree (EdD)

Advance your skills as a professional and an educator with a Doctor of Education Degree (EdD) from Lincoln Memorial University! Through the EdD program, you'll have the opportunity to earn a degree in instructional leadership and instructional practices and to nurture your aspirations of becoming an outstanding leader in all levels of public and private education, including pre-kindergarten through 12 and even higher education.

To accommodate your busy schedule, every class you attend will be held at the Carter and Moyers School of Education's Cedar Bluff Campus in Knoxville, Tennessee, one weekend per month, with sessions spanning Friday evening and all-day Saturday. While in pursuit of your Doctor of Education degree, LMU will strive to support you in key areas, including:

• Personalized Attention. A major professor and faculty chair member will counsel and mentor every student and candidate in the program and will be available for assistance throughout.
• Cohort Group Model. You will enter the EdD program during the Fall and will mostly remain with the same group of your fellow students throughout the duration of your coursework. Due to the nature of this cohort program model, you will develop long-standing and valuable professional relationships during your time here.
• Dissertation Support. You will engage in a multi-leveled writing curriculum, called Sequential Core, where you will focus on your topic of research with assistance and guidance from our skilled faculty. In the second semester of coursework, Chairs will be assigned to allow for direct support. You will begin work on your dissertation in your first course and complete Chapter 2, the first chapter written in your dissertation, during your third semester of coursework before you begin engaging in directed study dissertation hours with your assigned Chair. From there, the Chair will then serve as a major support, with LMU's EdD dissertation Chairs providing dedicated support to you throughout your journey.
• Research. We put theory into practice. During your time in the program, you will receive a variety of opportunities to further expand your knowledge and skillsets regarding your field of study and your profession.

Apply to the Doctor of Education Program

The admissions process at LMU consists of these three stages:

• Stage One: Submit Documents Required for Application Package
  
  1. Application Form
  2. Non-refundable application fee of $50 (USD). This fee will be waived for LMU EdS graduates.
  3. Official Transcripts for all graduate-level coursework. Please send all official transcripts to Julia.Kirk@LMUnet.edu.
  4. Three recommendations from individuals knowledgeable of your professional experience and skills. We encourage you to utilize principals and supervisors as references. Please list all references on your online application, as they will be sent reference forms automatically. 
  5. Resume or Curriculum Vitae covering personal history. Please attach or email directly to Julia.Kirk@LMUnet.edu.
• Stage Two: Writing Activity
  Once recommended for consideration based on your initial application, you will be emailed a performance-based writing activity. You will read an article and respond to questions corresponding to that article, as well as regarding your current work placement. You will have 10 days (about one and a half weeks), including two weekends, to complete. Through this activity, we will assess your overall writing abilities as a baseline for program consideration.
• Stage Three: Interview
  If you are recommended for another level of consideration, you will be scheduled to interview with two of our EdD faculty members for a designated thirty-minute duration, conducted over Zoom.

Following these three stages, you will be rated based on the Admissions Committee's review of all of your documents, activities and interview scores, as well as your ability to complete the requirements with the doctoral program successfully. In some cases, you may be granted a conditional status with additional preparation required for you to obtain full graduate status.

The Admissions Committee will then review all available data and forward you a final recommendation for or denial of admission. Once you have received a notice of acceptance, the Program Director will send you a program of study for your appropriate degree program, as well as the dates for your first year of coursework. After being admitted, you will be required to attend a program orientation, which will occur the Friday evening of the first class weekend. Failure to attend orientation will result in a deferred enrollment or reassessment of the admittance decision.

For admittance into the Doctor of Education Degree program at Lincoln Memorial University, you must apply through the LMU portal. 

Early admission packages for the Fall cohort group must be submitted by February 1st, while regular admissions packages for the Fall cohort must be submitted by May 1st of the year in which you are seeking admission. 

Open up a wide variety of professional opportunities after graduating from our Doctor of Education program at LMU! Once you've completed your degree, you'll have access to instructional and curricular careers at the K-12 level, including Assistant Superintendents, Supervisors, Principals, and Teacher Leaders. Historically, LMU EdD graduates have thrived in private educational consulting roles and higher education administrative and faculty roles, with many graduates currently working in positions like:

• Assistant Superintendent of Operations
• Title I Program Director
• Supervisor of College
• Career and Technical Education
• Elementary Principal
• Middle School Principal
• High School Principal
• Law Faculty
• Director of Counseling
• Success Center Advisor
• Director of Assessment and CAEP Coordinator
• Executive Director of Administration
• Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid

Want to learn more about the Doctor of Education (EdD) program at Lincoln Memorial University? Reach out to us at your convenience for more information about our institution and offerings!

Carter & Moyers School of Education
LMU Cedar Bluff
421 Park 40 N. Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37923
Email: Julia.Kirk@LMUnet.edu

During your time spent pursuing the Doctor of Education degree and following graduation, it's important to us that you feel comfortably aligned with our program's Vision, Mission and Values. As a part of a long-standing institution and successful degree program, we hope that you too can find yourself in your education, your career and your academic services. 

Vision

It is our goal, as an educational program, to be a nationally recognized leader in developing scholar-practitioners who serve to advance ethics, change, and social justice through the decision sciences. 

Mission

The mission of our Doctor of Education program is to facilitate the continuous development of investigative, individual, interpersonal, and innovative skills needed for leaders to address emerging issues in organizational settings. We strive to accomplish this through academic experiences which challenge professionals to transform the institutions and communities they serve by advancing ethics, change and social justice through the decision sciences. 

Values

As a program, we collectively value four main points: Ethical Leadership, Transformation, Social Justice, and Critical Inquiry. By holding these four primary values throughout your education, career and life moving forward, there is no doubt you will serve as an outstanding professional in your field and your community.