Best Online Doctorate in Education Degree Programs Ranked for Students

Best Online Doctorate in Education Degree Programs Ranked for Students

By James Barham and James Barham

Published: Jun 23, 2021
Updated: Mar 13, 2023

Find top-ranked online doctorate in education degree programs to help students qualify to work as a college professor of education or conduct educational research.

Featured Programs

Key Takeaways

The recent shortage of qualified teachers makes education or teaching some of today’s most sought-after skills.
A holistic bachelor’s in education degree produces the most skilled teachers that can work in various settings and around students of specific school-age groups.
As educators or teachers, graduates of an online bachelor’s in education programs must have a passion for this extremely important work and possess strong problem-solving and communication skills to do their jobs effectively.

Top 10 Online Doctor in Education Programs

University of Southern California

72%

University of Arizona

66%

University of Georgia

63%

Florida State University

62%

University of Alabama

60%

Fordham University

60%

59%

University of Houston

59%

Iowa State University

59%

University of Kentucky

58%

University of Maine

96%

Old Dominion University

96%

University of Memphis

95%

University of Kentucky

94%

Iowa State University

91%

University of Mississippi

90%

University of Arizona

87%

Duquesne University

84%

University of Arkansas

83%

University of Montana

82%

University of Houston

23 to 1

Florida State University

21 to 1

University of Alabama

20 to 1

Texas Tech University

19 to 1

University of Arkansas

19 to 1

Iowa State University

18 to 1

University of Montana

18 to 1

Old Dominion University

18 to 1

University of Georgia

17 to 1

University of Mississippi

16 to 1

$61,706

University of Southern California

$61,503

Fordham University

$56,161

Duquesne University

$43,526

Mercer University

$38,746

Andrews University

$31,782

Hampton University

$29,312

University of Maine

$11,640

University of Kentucky

$11,247

University of Arizona

$10,990

University of Southern California

$60,446

$32,616

Andrews University

$28,656

Duquesne University

$24,534

Fordham University

$23,112

Mercer University

$15,244

Hampton University

$13,099

University of Kentucky

$12,311

University of Arizona

$12,106

University of Alabama

$10,780

Tennessee State University

37%

Andrews University

38%

Old Dominion University

42%

Hampton University

43%

University of Idaho

44%

Duquesne University

45%

Mercer University

45%

University of Montana

46%

University of Memphis

47%

University of Maine

47%

University of Southern California

13%

19%

Florida State University

37%

University of Georgia

40%

North Carolina State University

47%

Fordham University

58%

University of Houston

66%

Texas Tech University

68%

Mercer University

75%

University of Alabama

79%

University of Southern California

9 to 1

Andrews University

10 to 1

Tennessee State University

12 to 1

Fordham University

13 to 1

Duquesne University

13 to 1

14 to 1

Mercer University

14 to 1

North Carolina State University

14 to 1

University of Arizona

15 to 1

Hampton University

15 to 1

Florida State University

$4,640

University of Montana

$5,352

University of Idaho

$6,182

North Carolina State University

$6,535

Old Dominion University

$7,029

Tennessee State University

$7,128

University of Arkansas

$7,666

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

$7,770

Iowa State University

$8,324

University of Memphis

$8,352

University of Montana

$4,932

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

$6,138

Texas Tech University

$6,956

University of Idaho

$7,754

University of Arkansas

$7,875

University of Houston

$8,713

University of Georgia

$8,878

University of Mississippi

$8,938

North Carolina State University

$9,095

University of Memphis

$9,378

Are You A Good Fit for A Doctorate in Education?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics points to a 5% increase in K-12 principal jobs over the next decade. Jobs for postsecondary or university administrators, like registrars or deans, are expected to rise 7% during the same time period. The increase could be attributed to the growing number of student enrollment in universities and colleges.

Web-based graduate programs follow the same curricula as the on-campus options and lead to the same advancement opportunities for graduates who have earned a master’s degree in a related discipline. Essentially, an online education program at the doctoral level is ideal for adult learners who have external commitments.

Online Doctor of Education: Career Paths

Because online doctoral programs in education provide students and candidates with a great amount of flexibility and convenience, it makes sense to pursue a degree this way! Education doctorate online programs produce skilled professionals who qualify for today’s most lucrative and important careers in higher education leadership. Upon completion, graduates could pursue a career as:

College President: With a median salary of over $315,000, college presidents hold the highest position in a college or university. These Ph.D. degree holders establish and implement the strategic visions for their school, head fundraising activities, and join student events.

College presidents are also often the voice of a college, communicating to a variety of constituents like lawmakers, donors, government, and the school faculty, to raise the profile of the school both internationally and locally.

College presidents also work with senior administrators and members of the school’s faculty and staff to come up with new ways to support students to improve their learning environment while maintaining the school’s high academic standards.

Chief Learning Officers: Taking home roughly $209,000 every year, chief learning officers serve in top executive roles in a school. These senior-level professionals develop and drive strategies that they know can help their school meet critical business goals.

The CLO focuses on making strategies for learning, training, and development. They also usually manage the institution’s latest technology, like the online learning platform.

Provost: Provosts are the senior-level academic administrators at colleges and universities, typically reporting directly to the school’s president. Provosts work closely with department heads and deans to help identify the school’s priorities and academic goals, as well as how to budge the resources necessary to support these initiatives.

Provosts also manage the daily operations of a school and are often responsible for hiring and retaining a diverse faculty and staff.

School Superintendents: Superintendents hold the top position in a school district. They are responsible for forming and overseeing the district’s staffing, budget, spending, and infrastructure. School superintendents work closely with the school board to create and implement new programs and policies in line with the district’s goals. They also allocate the human and financial resources needed to attain the district’s overarching vision.

Academic Deans: Deans are the senior administrators within a college or university. The dean’s role will vary depending on the school, but often, they set academic goals, manage faculty and staff, implement strategic planning, oversee the department’s budget, support research initiatives, help fundraise, and foster student development.

Professors: College professors, or postsecondary teachers, work at the university or college level, creating course curricula, giving instructions to students in a particular area of study, including a doctoral program, and assessing the student’s progress. In addition to teaching, professors write scholarly papers, conduct research, and attend conferences.

Executive Director of Education: With the online doctoral in education, you can also work as an executive director and become the senior leader of a nonprofit business or organization. Working closely with a board of directors, executive directors of education are responsible for making daily operational decisions.

They also hire and manage staff, engage volunteers, handle external relations, and oversee a school’s budget—including fundraising activities. At times, these directors develop programs, policies, and strategies that will guide the organization’s purpose and mission.

Frequently Asked Questions About Education Degrees

Experienced teachers seeking to enter a career in higher education or administration can complete a doctorate in education (EdD).

Completing an EdD can take as little as three years, but candidates choosing to attend only part-time can expect a longer timeline.

The EdD usually requires a dissertation, which is completed in the final year of study and is expected to be a scholarly work that adds to the academic discourse in your chosen concentration. Online EdD programs give students the option to balance their careers and studies by attending virtual classes.

The EdD is the terminal degree in education and can bring graduates the chance for promotion and salary increases. Upon completion, you’ll also qualify to work as a college professor of education or conduct educational research.

Best Online Doctorate in Education Degree Programs

How do we determine the best online education doctorate degree programs?

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

Ranking The Best Online Doctorate in Education Programs

An online doctorate degree program in education offers every student the opportunity to truly become experts in their field. We indexed some of the country’s best web-based education degrees at the graduate level that are all considered excellent programs.

A standout feature of each school is the superior coursework they offer to impart to every future teacher the modern theories, principles, and techniques of the practice.

Besides technical knowledge and the basics of ethical practice, the coursework also promotes today’s most important skills that a teacher must possess, including patience, a genuine love for teaching, and a deep concern for the welfare of students.

Professors who are notable for their contributions to the field make up the teaching staff in the online doctorate in education online programs of the schools on our list.

Each program has earned the nod of regional accrediting agencies, proving the top-quality teaching degree online programs they offer.

Best Online Doctorate in Education Degree Programs

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require some adjustment. While you’ll generally learn the same content and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, the medium will likely require you to manage much of this experience independently. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, your ability to harness the technology at your fingertips, and your ability to focus on the lectures, lessons, and assignments at hand. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take it upon yourself to build relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier is actually getting there. Taking the commute out of the equation means getting to class should be a lot more manageable. But that’s where it ends. In general, your online courses will incorporate the very same materials, concepts, and testing methods as would a traditional classroom.

And in many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning or working with remote learning technology for the first time, online college may even be a little more challenging for you. For a few insights on how to manage this new experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable institutions and less-than-reputable for-profit schools. Accreditation gives you the power to differentiate between the two. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency which indicates that a college or university is meeting standards of quality, credibility, and currency. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university which is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. When seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that students opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited, you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer. In many cases, you will be required to navigate a bureaucracy in which some of your credits will be transferred and others will be jettisoned. However, provided that you have attended an online school with the proper regional accreditation, you should have plenty of options for transfer.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript or resume differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

While some employers may express concern about making the adjustment from online education to in-person workplace collaboration, many other employers will view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st Century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will require some adjustment.

While there is much that can be supplanted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing which can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual classroom setting. As you make the adjustment to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face is overcoming this difference in order to the get the most out of your classes. Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. First and foremost, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.