Frequently Asked Questions

Holders of a PhD in Higher Education usually are employed in administrative positions in an institution of higher education, public or private.

FIU Graduate School must receive official GRE scores directly. If they are older than 5 years, it is possible that the Educational Testing Service (ETS) that administers the GRE will not have them on file any longer. However, if you already had GRE scores (e.g., from your master’s degree) on file with FIU’s Graduate School, you may not have to re-take the GRE as long as they are within a reasonable time limit. In that case, the Graduate School will decide whether to accept them or not.

Any scholarly/research paper you have written and for which you received a grade would be preferable. However, if these are unavailable, perhaps a work-product you wrote (e.g., a grant proposal) that is relevant would be considered.

Although there is maximum time limit of 9 years to complete the program, most students finish the program, including the dissertation, in about 5-6 years. After the 5^th year, we do expect students to have a solid idea of their research topic and to have made significant progress towards completing the coursework.

Yes, it is the same program of studies.

Absolutely. However, do keep in mind that the university only allows 12 credits to be applied towards completion of a Doctoral Program. Additionally, FIU only allows a maximum of 12 credits to be taken as a non-degree seeking student. Some of the EDH courses are not available to non-degree seeking students, however.

See above. 

You can get that information online to estimate costs. It depends on when you would be starting the program, as tuition tends to change every year.

Upon full admissions you will be assigned an advisor, and the program will let you know who that faculty member is.

Yes. However, you may only transfer in a total of 12 graduate credits, from either a doctoral program or master’s program, or a combination of both. Your advisor will decide which courses may transfer in to the program.

Yes, you may transfer up to 12 credits from your master’s degree. Upon admissions to the program, you will be assigned an advisor. Your advisor is the person who will decide which courses from your master’s degree may transfer into the PhD program.

Individual interviews will be scheduled in the spring (after the February 1^st deadline). Students selected for an interview will receive a call to schedule an interview on campus, or if a student is not in the South Florida area, by Skype. Shortly after the interviews, students will be notified regarding the final decision.

One of the first courses a PhD student will take is the Doctoral seminar. This course will help students explore dissertation topics in which they may be interested. A final decision does not have to be made by the end of the class; however, students will have the opportunity of learning how to structure a dissertation, including their search of the literature.

As an international student, you will need to submit official TOEFL or IELTS scores in order to demonstrate English proficiency, in addition to the standard application materials. The minimum scores for admissions are 80 for the TOEFL and 6.5 for the IELTS. Additionally, if you earned your degree from an institution outside the United States, you will need to have your transcripts evaluated and validated by the FIU’s Graduate School. Please contact them for further information at gradadm@fiu.edu.

The PhD in Higher Education Administration is designed to train graduates to work in administrative and leadership roles in higher education. This program is not meant to train teachers or administrators for the K-12 setting (see FIU’s Educational Leadership Program). However, if you intend to teach higher education administration subjects in college, you may do so with a doctoral degree in higher education.

Only a couple of the courses required for completion of the PhD program are available online.

Most of the courses are offered face-to-face on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 pm to 7:40 pm (one night per course). That is the schedule for the Fall and Spring semesters; summer semester hours may be slightly different.

The program does not follow a set sequence, with the exception of the first semester for entering students. Upon entry into the program in the fall semester, first year students take the Doctoral Seminar, EDH 7981 - Seminar in Writing the Dissertation (required), and for a second course, EDH 7635, Administration in Higher Education (also required), or another elective course. Every year you and your advisor will determine what courses you will take. The program is very advisor-student driven, so we can specifically tailor the program to your interests.

Although there are no minimum/maximum number of courses that you are required to take each term, we encourage you to be continuously enrolled. During the terms when you are taking dissertation credits, you MUST be continuously enrolled, even in the summer, for at least three credits a term. (If a student has a graduate assistantship or is an international student, s/he must abide by the conditions relevant to those classifications.) The faculty strongly recommend that students take at least two courses (6 credits) per semester because there is a maximum of nine (9) years to complete the entire program, including the dissertation. Students who are not working and who are attending the program full time are encouraged to take three courses (9 credits) per term in the fall and spring semesters.