Offered by the Department of Educational Leadership in collaboration with the Office of International Programs at the University of Montana

The growth of study abroad and international education programs in the past ten years has driven an increase in the demand for professionals with advanced training in international education leadership, theory, and advocacy all over the world. A Master's degree is becoming the required academic level for mid-level and even some entry level positions in the field.  With the aforementioned growth in the field, research, and particularly research through advanced degrees, is imperative to inform the field.

In offering this program, the Department of Educational Leadership endeavors to provide the future leadership of governmental, educational, and nonprofit organizations with necessary tools for developing, implementing, and managing internationalization efforts related with Cross-Cultural Exchange and Training, Global Education, and International Education Development.  The Ph.D. in International Educational Leadership focuses on education both as an instrument of international development and as a means of promoting cross-cultural understanding.

The Ph.D. in International Educational Leadership requires 91 credits to graduate. The primary area for all students in the Ph.D. program is International Educational Leadership.  Thirty credits are required in this area.  New courses have been added to fulfill major requirements.  The supporting area for this degree is Higher Educational Leadership.  This is one of the same supporting areas currently available in the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program.  There are twenty credits required in the supporting area.  Nine credits of foundations in education are also required.

The research core for the Ph.D. in International Educational Leadership consists of five courses, Introduction to Statistics, Advanced Educational Statistics, Educational Research, Qualitative Research, and Quantitative Research.  Once all coursework has been completed, students must pass a comprehensive examination (1 credit) before being raised to doctoral candidacy.  Once raised to candidacy, a dissertation proposal can be defended.  Graduates are required to take a minimum of twelve credits of Dissertation (EDLD699).  The dissertation must be defended prior to the student’s graduation ceremony.  

To graduate with a Ph.D. in International Educational Leadership, students will need to meet a world language requirement.  The world language requirement is met when a student's undergraduate or master’s degree transcript indicates the completion of one world language semester courses (equivalent to a 3-credit semester course at UM). The requirement may be met after admission by earning a passing grade in one three-credit college-level world language course at UM, by earning transferable credits in a foreign language course at another institution, or by demonstrating proficiency. For citizens of non-English speaking countries this requisite can be fulfilled by meeting their English language proficiency admission requirement.