Online Ed.D. Program FAQ

All students in the online EdD in Educational Technology are professionals. The program is purposefully designed for those in full-time jobs.

No, you do not need to have completed a Masters in Education to apply to this program. Educational Technology is an interdisciplinary field and our students have majors in Education, Computer Science, Psychology, Business and just about any other field you can imagine. We do expect that applicants work in educational environments and use educational technology in those environments. Regardless of your previous, it is important that you write a strong purpose statement (required in your application) about how this degree in Educational Technology will help you meet your professional goals.

For complete information on the admissions process, please review our program-specific guidelines at https://education.ufl.edu/educational-technology/ed-d-online/admission-requirements/ Please also visit the following Web page: https://education.ufl.edu/school-teaching-learning/admissions/. The online application is at https://student.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/eaglec?page=iga-intro. Our application deadline is in January (January 5), which is different from other deadlines in the college that might be in February, so please use the deadline on this page and plan accordingly. Please read these FAQs carefully before you apply.

Yes. The online EdD in Educational Technology program is online except for an on-campus component for 2 days (in late August-early September) during your first semester and 4 days at the end of the first year (in late June) and 3 days in the second year (mid-May) of your program. Attendance is required. You are required to sign an EdTechApplicationAgreementLetter2022 committing to the on-campus component and submit it along with your online application. The University of Florida also requires that you be present for your dissertation defense, but that date can be decided according to your convenience and in agreement with your dissertation committee chair.

GRE requirements have been waived for the Fall 2022 cohort. You do not need to provide GRE scores to apply.
Usually, all students must have a recent (i.e. less than 5 years old) GRE score on file in order to be considered for admission. The University of Florida Office of Admissions will only accept scores sent directly from ETS. You can send the scores using code 5812.

Please refer to our Tuition page. Tuition costs can be found at https://education.ufl.edu/coe-online/tuition-and-fees/. Students in our program receive an out of state fee waiver because it is a completely online program. Students can anticipate taking a minimum of 60 credit hours to complete the program. Program faculty cannot answer questions about tuition. Further questions can be answered by the Admissions office at +1-352-392-1365.

Each cohort is between 18-25 students.

A doctorate degree requires students to complete a minimum of 90 hours beyond their bachelor’s degree. The online Ed.D. in Educational Technology is designed such that students complete the required courses as a cohort and work on their dissertations at their own pace. Degree completion depends on the student’s ability to complete program requirements to a level commensurate with doctoral level work. Graduates of the program have taken a minimum of 3 years to complete the program.

The online Ed.D. program requires an earned Master’s degree. Students should have completed a Master’s degree before they begin the Ed.D. program. It is possible to transfer up to 30 credit hours from your Master’s program, depending on multiple factors. It may be possible to have additional credits transferred if students hold a specialist degree from an accredited doctoral degree granting institution. Transfer approvals are based on many factors and are made at the university level so we cannot tell prospective students how many credits will transfer. Transfer credit requests are submitted during students’ first semester in the program and are handled by the Graduate School after students have registered in the program. No questions about transfer credit can be addressed until after a student has begun the program. The University’s official policy on transfer of credit is located here: http://gradcatalog.ufl.edu/content.php?catoid=2&navoid=760#Doctor_of_Education

The admissions processes for online certificates and degree programs are different so you would need to apply to the EdD. program. The credits earned from a certificate can transfer to a program once a student is accepted as long as a B or better was earned. Please note that only a total of 36 credits can transfer if you completed your Masters at UF and a total of 30 credits if you completed your Masters elsewhere.

The admission requirements for our department (https://education.ufl.edu/school-teaching-learning/admissions/) state that letters of recommendation must come from university faculty. However, our program recognizes that many applicants have been away from university studies for many years. Thus, we prefer to see letters of recommendations from individuals who can speak to your current work and your likelihood of success in graduate school. These may or may not come from university professors.

No, the Ed Tech faculty review applications so this would mean that we would be writing letters to ourselves. Current Ed Tech students who wish to apply to another Ed Tech program are welcomed to talk with faculty about it and to let us know they are applying but we cannot write letters of recommendation.

The list of courses look slightly different for each cohort. This is a cohort-based program, all requirements and activities have to be completed as an online cohort. The curriculum includes core courses in Educational Technology, research courses, doctoral seminars and electives. Students are required to take two courses a semester that total six credits (Fall, Spring and Summer) for the first two years of the program.

Acceptance requires a completed master’s degree from an accredited institution. We do not require applicants to have a background in educational technology or education; however, it does help.

You can register for courses as a non-degree seeking student when they are offered each semester. For details, see the schedule of courses located here: https://education.ufl.edu/educational-technology/course-calendar/. Before you register for a course, if you are planning to apply to the Ed.D., please check with Dr. Kumar (edtechedd@coe.ufl.edu) that the course you are taking will transfer into the Ed.D. program if you are accepted. Please note that successfully completing courses does not guarantee admission to the Ed.D. cohort.

Students will have the opportunity to get to know core faculty members in the program during the first year. Students then work with a research mentor in the second and third years of the program, once they have determined their area of specialization.

This program is designed for professionals wishing to conduct research in Educational Technology. Our students come from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. We work with students individually to help them achieve their professional goals. Almost all our students have advanced in their professional context, many have also changed jobs as a result of completing this degree. It is common for students’ goals to change during the degree. Reading our articles about how this program has impacted Ed.D. students (Kumar & Dawson, 2012; Kumar, 2014) will help prospective applicants. Details about our students, their dissertations and positions are available at https://education.ufl.edu/educational-technology/ed-d-placements/. If you wish to know more about the program, please consult our book:

Kumar, S. & Dawson, K. (2018). An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals: Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation. Athabasca University Press.  http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120272

If you have questions about the admissions process, please contact GradAdmissions@coe.ufl.edu. If you have questions about the program, please contact Dr. Kumar at edtechedd@coe.ufl.edu.