Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership

Our Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership program is designed for working adult professionals who seek dynamic growth in their leadership practice, whether to move into upper-level management or to make a more significant impact driving progress on the complex challenges that matter most.

Students should plan to earn five to eight credit hours per semester, with a broader commitment of approximately 34 months to complete the required 57 credit hours. Additionally, classes will meet one weekend a month with a week-long intensive course each summer.

Why earn a doctorate in organizational leadership?

Our institutions face unprecedented challenges across all industries. Whether it is in education, medicine, government, church, or business, today’s organizations face issues for which our industrial age leadership theories and practices are ill-equipped. This comprehensive program, leading to a terminal degree, works to develop students as trustworthy authority figures, with capacity and tools to exercise leadership from any position—mobilizing others to make progress on an organization’s most difficult issues.

The program is designed to help students build the emotional and psychological capacity for the burden of leadership, advance and enhance leadership skills, prepare them to employ research to diagnose organizational needs, and investigate the range and effectiveness of possible interventions.

As Marian University actively seeks to grow leadership capacity, the doctoral program will prepare students to impact not only the social systems of their own organization but the community at large. 

What will you study?

There is more to organizational leadership than simply meeting goals and objectives. The doctorate in organizational leadership emphasizes the Adaptive Leadership framework as its foundation, which provides a leadership focus that recognizes organizations as social systems, differentiates between technical problems and adaptive challenges, and expressly accounts for the nuance and power of authority and group dynamics.

Program Learning Outcomes

This program has six overarching goals for candidates, such that at the completion of this program the graduate will be able to: 

• Understand: Diagnose the complex social systems of an organization.
• Engage others: Align and mobilize others within an organization.
• Manage self: Build the emotional and psychological strength required to exercise leadership.
• Intervene skillfully: Act with purpose and agency within groups, teams, and organizations.
• Execute: Manage the technical aspects of an organization’s operations.
• Evaluate: Measure the effectiveness of interventions using research and data.

Career Paths

Graduates of the Ed.D. program will be prepared to mobilize others, lead change, and manage educational systems. Ed.D. students may also choose to pursue superintendent licensure as part of their degree. Indiana District Level Administrator Superintendent licensure prepares you for a leadership role in your school district, network, or diocese.

Professionals from diverse industries and domains—from healthcare to technology to government to clergy—will benefit from this doctoral program. Indianapolis, specifically, and Indiana, in general, are seeing enormous growth in a variety of sectors where skilled leadership development personnel are needed. In 2017, the Brookings Institute found that Indianapolis is among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas for tech-related jobs. And in 2019, Zippia, The Career Expert, utilized data sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to report that seven out of the ten of the fastest-growing occupations in Indianapolis are in health care.

When do classes start?

Admission Criteria 

To be eligible for admission to this program, applicants must have a master's degree from an accredited institution with a graduate GPA of at least 3.00 and complete a face-to-face interview.

How to Apply

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• Submit official transcripts from every college and/or university that you've attended. (Official transcripts are sent directly to Marian University from the schools, either delivered in a sealed envelope or electronically directly from the school. Official transcripts may be printed on special paper. They are also embossed with the school's official seal. If you have opened the transcript's sealed envelope, it is NOT official and we cannot accept it.)
• Submit a professional resume or CV.
• Provide us with two letters of recommendation from professional references.
• Provide us with a writing sample (i.e. academic paper, published article, etc.).

Please visit the Business Office "Tuition Rates" page.

Marian University’s organizational leadership doctoral program provides working adults with the skills they need to exercise leadership and pursue advanced leadership positions in their organizations. Interested in learning more?