Higher Education Program

Students who begin their EdD degree on a full-time must maintain continuous registration. Once enrolled full-time, students must maintain continuous registration full-time and pay full-time fees until all degree requirements, including the thesis, are completed.

Students cannot normally transfer between the EdD and PhD programs.

1. Coursework: Students complete a minimum 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
 

• Recurring Issues in Postsecondary Education (LHA1803H, 0.5 FCE). 
• At least 1.0 FCE in Higher Education  
• 0.5 FCE in research methods, approved by the faculty advisor 
• 1.0 FCE selected either in Higher Education or in another graduate program at OISE, or, with the approval of the faculty advisor, in another graduate department at the University of Toronto.
• Supervised applied research practicum (0.5 FCE)
• Collaborative seminar (0.5 FCE)

2. ​Comprehensive examination

3. Thesis

Explore courses

• Higher Education program courses
• Courses offered at OISE

Collaborative specializations provide graduate students enrolled in participating degree programs with an additional multidisciplinary experience as they complete their home degree program. 

Learn more about the collaborative specializations offered to EdD students in the Higher Education program: 
 

• Comparative, International and Development Education
• Educational Policy
• Engineering Education
• Sexual Diversity Studies 
• Women and Gender Studies

Faculty in the Higher Education program have multi-disciplinary teaching and research expertise in a wide range of fields. To learn more about our faculty, check out our program's faculty listing for profiles.

Our faculty's expertise includes, but is not limited to: 

• Higher education, globalization and neoliberalism
• Comparative higher education and international academic relations
• Educational leadership and change
• Higher education policy and politics in Canada
• Minoritization in postsecondary institutions
• Indigenous college student experience
• Politics in higher education
• Sociology of knowledge

The following are annual tuition fees for 2020-2021. These figures include all non-tuition related fees. 
 

• Domestic full-time students: $9,185.65
• International full-time students: $38,878.65
   

For the most up-to-date information on tuition fees as well as financial support, visit the OISE Registrar website. 

General information

Please visit the OISE Admissions website for detailed information about the application process, including general minimum admission requirements and supporting documents. 

Program-specific information

Minimum admission requirements

• A relevant and acceptable MEd or MA. In individual cases, students with a highly relevant master’s degree or other equivalent graduate degree may be admitted, but additional courses in Higher Education will be required.
   

Required supporting documents

• Transcript(s) from each post-secondary institution attended
• Two letters of reference (one academic and one professional)
• Résumé
• Statement of Intent
• Applicants who hold an MEd or other non-thesis master's degree must submit written evidence of their ability to define a research question or problem, devise a research design, and analyze and report research findings – all in an academically rigorous manner. This evidence may be an undergraduate or master's thesis, long essays or papers written for master's level courses, reports and studies written as part of employment, or other documents that demonstrate the ability to conduct research at the doctoral level.

Deadlines

Note: The EdD in Higher Education program is not accepting applications for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

For the most up-to-date information on application deadlines, please visit OISE Admissions. 

Questions about applying? Please contact the OISE admissions office at 416-978-4300 or admissions.oise@utoronto.ca. 

Questions about the program? Please contact the program assistants at 416-978-1251 or lhae.pa@utoronto.ca