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Online Doctor of Education (EdD) Programs in Texas

Updated: July 25, 2024

Texas is home to 13 institutions that offer Doctor of Education (EdD) programs online with little or no campus requirements. Abilene Christian University, Baylor University, Houston Christian University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Tarleton State University, three schools in the Texas A&M system (College Station, Commerce, and West Texas A&M), Texas Tech University, The University of Texas at Tyler, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the University of Houston all have online EdD programs that provide flexible options for students. Between these 13 schools, students can choose from 17 programs within the state, with specializations ranging from PreK-12 or Higher Education Administration, to Organizational Leadership, Agricultural Education, Bilingual Studies, School Improvement, Instructional Systems Design, and more.

All of the schools listed on this page are regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Some programs or departments detailed below are also accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).

Schools in Texas with Online EdD Programs

At Abilene Christian University, students can pursue a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership online through the School of Educational Leadership. The 60-credit program is designed to be completed in three to five years, and offers degree tracks in Conflict Management, Higher Education, Positive Leadership, and Learning with Emerging Technologies. Curriculum in all four concentrations is organized around the following core competencies: personal development, resource development, collaboration and communication, organizational assessment, and organizational culture. Coursework is delivered entirely online through asynchronous instruction, and students are not required to visit campus at any point during their studies.

The Baylor University School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, located in Waco, offers an EdD online in Learning and Organizational Change. Comprised of 54 credits, the program can be completed in three years of full-time study, or four years on a flexible part-time schedule. The practitioner-focused curriculum emphasizes areas such as curriculum design and instruction, dynamics of organizational change, contextual learning and design, professional development, and program assessment and evaluation. Students attend live weekly online class sessions, which utilize webcams to allow classmates and faculty to interact face-to-face. There are also two required immersions on the Baylor campus, where students get the chance to learn from professors in person and apply their new skills to collaborative group assignments.

Featured Online EdD Programs that Accept Students from Texas
Grand Canyon University Online Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership with Emphases in K-12 Leadership, Higher Education Leadership, and Organizational Development	Visit Site
Arizona State University Online Doctor of Education (Ed.D) in Leadership & Innovation with Pathways in PreKindergarten-Grade 12 Change Leadership; Higher Education Change Leadership; and Systems, Professional and Reimagined Change Leadership	Visit Site
Marymount University Online Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation	Visit Site
Spalding University Online Doctorate of Education (EdD) in Leadership	Visit Site
University of West Alabama Online Ed.D. Rural Education with Concentrations in Higher Education Administration, and Organizational Change and Leadership	Visit Site
Aurora University Online Doctor of Education (EdD) with Specializations in Leadership in Educational Administration (Superintendent Endorsement), and Leadership in Higher Education Administration	Visit Site

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Houston Christian University offers an online Doctor of Education in Executive Educational Leadership that prepares students to lead educational institutions in the public and private sectors. Students of this program take courses that cover foundational and advanced topics in leadership theory, cultural competence for education leaders, emerging education technologies, Christian worldview for education leaders, public policy in education, program evaluation, district and community relations management, current issues in education, and human resource management. This program also includes several research courses that train students in doctoral level research methods and data analysis, in preparation for their dissertation work which occurs during the latter half of their enrollment in the program. This program is 100% online with no campus visit requirements, and each student cohort is approximately 20 people, enabling more in-depth interactions between faculty and students.

Lamar University in Beaumont has an online Doctorate in Educational Leadership that emphasizes global educational leadership and admits students from all over the world. Offered by their College of Education and Human Development, the fully online program consists of 60 credit hours and spans eight semesters (including summers). Working in cohorts, students take courses such as Global Education Ethics and Values, Global Leadership Issues, Global Communication, Leadership in Higher Education Administration, Educational Research Methods, Fundamentals of Program Evaluation, and Strategic Planning and Educational Leadership. Members of the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) or Apple Distinguished Educator Institute can also earn credit toward their degree through professional development.

Located in Huntsville, Sam Houston State University’s (SHSU) College of Education offers two EdD programs online. The first is a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership with a concentration in Academic Support, which is available through their Department of Educational Leadership. This program prepares students to design, assess, and improve educational programs and systems within higher education institutions through a combination of administrative strategies, student development theories, and applied scholarship. The second program, which is offered through the Department of Library Science and Technology, is a Doctor of Education in Instructional Systems Design and Technology, which focuses on the integration of technology into curriculum. Both degrees can be completed entirely online, each requiring 60 credit hours in total.

Tarleton State University’s College of Education offers an online Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, which features four concentration options in Educational Technology Leadership, Higher Education Leadership, EC-12 Education Leadership, and Education Finance. The EC-12 Education Leadership concentration gives students the option of taking courses to qualify for Superintendent Certification or Principal Certification. This program consists of 63 credit hours, and can be completed in three years of full-time study. Students take foundational courses in areas such as Models and Theories of Educational Leadership, Organizational Theory and Change in Education, Educational Policy and Governance, and Leading Technology Innovation in Education. They also take inquiry courses that cover Scholarly Process in Educational Leadership, Research Design and Critical Analysis, and Investigating Problems of Practice in Educational Leadership. For their concentration coursework, students can take classes ranging from Superintendent Leadership and Accountability to Finance and Resource Management in Higher Education, Implementing Technology Strategy and Systems, and Teaching and Assessment in Higher Education.

Students of Tarleton State University’s online EdD in Educational Leadership complete nine credits of dissertation work, which is embedded into the curriculum to support students throughout the process. In addition to the online faculty mentorship students receive regarding their dissertation research, students are also expected to attend two to three in-person doctoral workshops annually, which are held on Saturdays during the academic year. Furthermore, students must fulfill a study away or a study abroad requirement, which gives them an opportunity to observe and interact with real education systems and the challenges they face, outside of their normal place of work and spheres of influence.

The Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University, College Station offers a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction online for those interested in leading curriculum and instructional assessment in P-12 settings. The cohort-based program requires a minimum of 64 credit hours, with an estimated completion time of four years. While all coursework is delivered online in an asynchronous format, students must make three visits to the A&M campus throughout their studies. The first is a mandatory orientation event that takes place on the Friday before the first semester of classes. The remaining two campus visits are scheduled during the second and third years, respectively, and coincide with students’ capstone Record of Study project. Students also complete a professional internship experience totaling 300 hours over two semesters of the program.

Another school in the A&M system where students can pursue an EdD online is Texas A&M University, Commerce (TAMUC), which offers two programs to choose from. First, there is a Doctor of Education in Educational Administration with emphasis on K-12 public school administration from their Department of Educational Leadership. The program uses a cohort model, and includes the option to take Superintendent certification courses, allowing students to earn certification while completing their doctorate. TAMUC also has an online Doctor of Education in Higher Education (HIED) program, available through their Department of Higher Education and Learning Technologies. Students in this degree track study topics such as Community College Curriculum, Issues in Adult and Developmental Education, History of Higher Education, Policymaking, Curriculum Development, Finance, Student Affairs Administration, and more. Both online EdD programs at TAMUC consist of 60 credit hours and can be completed fully online.

Texas Tech University in Lubbock has a total of three EdD degrees available for online study. Their College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources offers a Doctor of Education in Agricultural Education online, which requires a minimum of 64 semester hours. The curriculum for this program is comprised of core courses such as Methods of Technological Change, Program Development in Agricultural and Extension Education, College Teaching in Agriculture, and History and Philosophy of Agricultural Education and Communications, as well as coursework in statistics, research, and evaluation, and the chance to customize one’s study plan with electives in their particular area of interest.

Along with this program, Texas Tech offers two EdDs online through their College of Education: a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (PreK-12) and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration with areas of emphasis in Community College Administration, and Higher Education College/University Administration. Both of these programs entail 60 credit hours, with two summer immersion sessions and additional weekend-long events held on campus. The EdD in Educational Leadership features courses in school district resource management, student learning and performance measurement, research for educational administration, curriculum and assessment, problem-based research in education leadership, and human capital development for educational contexts. The EdD in Higher Education Administration has classes in higher education finance, access and equity in American higher education, adult student learning, community college leadership, policy analysis in higher education, and a higher education doctoral seminar.

The University of Texas at Tyler offers an online EdD in School Improvement through its College of Education and Psychology. This program is delivered almost entirely online, though students are required to attend a Summer Residency every year of their enrollment. The curriculum consists of 60 credit hours, divided between 30 hours of School Improvement courses such as The Study and Application of Improvement Science, Culturally Responsive Practices for School Improvement, School Culture & Community Engagement for School Improvement, Research-Based Pedagogies for School Improvement, and Support Systems for Job-Embedded Professional Learning. Students also take 15 credits of Research Methods courses, including courses in Design-Based Implementation Research, Quantitative Research Methods in the Education Setting, and Learning Analytics.

This program features an embedded dissertation model wherein students begin thinking about their dissertation starting in year 1 of their enrollment. During their first year, students work with the faculty advisors to identify a problem of practice they want to investigate, and they write the first two chapters of their dissertation. Year 2 is devoted to collection of data regarding their selected problem of practice, as well as the presentation of their findings to their faculty committee. During year 3, students implement their planned intervention for their problem of practice, collect data on the results, submit their final dissertation chapters, and defend their dissertation before their faculty committee.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has an EdD in Curriculum and Instruction that is 100% online with fully synchronous instruction to maximize interaction between students and faculty. This program offers seven specialization options: Bilingual Studies, Educational Technology, Curriculum and Pedagogical Generalist, Literacy, Mathematics Education, Science Education, and Special Education. The curriculum consists of 30 hours of required core and research courses, 15 credit hours of specialization courses, and 9 credit hours of dissertation work. Examples of core and research courses include Traditions of Inquiry, Adult Learning Strategies, Contemporary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education, Advanced Human Development and Cognition, Advanced Sociocultural Inquiry in Education, Curriculum Inquiry, and Research Methods and Design.

Specialization courses for this program range from Critical Approaches to Curriculum Sciences, Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition, and Advanced Instructional Design, to Theories and Practices in Effective On-Line Pedagogy, Literacy Policy and Leadership, Teaching and Learning Algebraic Concepts, Instructional Change and Reform for Science Education Leaders, and Social and Emotional Interventions in Special Education. In addition, students choose 12 credits of elective courses in consultation with their faculty advisor. After finishing their content coursework, students must pass a comprehensive examination before beginning their dissertation, which is a scholarly project through which they investigate a problem of practice of relevance to them and their work environment.

Students can pursue an EdD in Professional Leadership online from the University of Houston, with available specializations in Literacy Education or Social Studies/Social Education. The program, offered through their College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, focuses on current issues facing education in urban contexts, preparing educators with the skills they need to enact positive change and take on leadership roles in urban schools, community organizations, or related educational institutions. A total of 51 credit hours are required to earn the degree, including a nine-hour core with courses covering Issues in Urban Education, Foundations of Education, and Learning and Development. The remaining curriculum is comprised of courses dedicated to research, leadership, and one’s specialization, as well as a six-credit Laboratory of Practice, where students engage in problem-solving activities related to their respective fields, and six credits associated with their doctoral thesis.

West Texas A&M University in Canyon has an online Doctorate in Education in Educational Leadership available through its College of Education and Social Sciences. Consisting of 60 credits, the program is designed to be completed in three years and offers degree tracks in either Educational Leadership or Leadership in Higher Education. Both concentrations include a focus on leading schools in rural communities, with courses in Decision Making, Educational Law, Organization Theory, Emergency Management and Response, Ethics in Educational Leadership, and more. While the majority of coursework is delivered online, students are expected to participate in campus-based immersion experiences each year. There is also an optional international immersion that takes place in Mexico during the first summer of the program.

Online EdD Programs in Texas

The following is a list of every school in Texas that offers an EdD online. To learn more about any of the degrees described on this page, click on the corresponding link below to visit that program’s website.