Why an EdD is the Ultimate Investment in Leadership and Impact

An EdD is the farthest you can take your education in…well. Education. Though it is not specifically necessary for any job it is a great way to maximize your professional skills and stand out for competitive positions.

If you want to work as a superintendent, or even at a college, getting an EdD is a great way to stand out while getting the skills needed to thrive on the job.

That said, it is a pretty steep investment. To even think about an EdD you need to have already gotten your undergraduate and master’s degree. All totaled, you’ll wind up spending well over $100K on college.

With interest.

EdDs might be a good way to get your foot in the door, but are they worth the crippling loans? The fifteen or so years of college classes? That, of course, depends on what you hope to achieve. In this article, we look at how an EdD can be a great investment in your career.

Is an EdD different from a PhD?

Sort of. EdDs are generally practice-oriented. In other words, the programs are designed to equip you with skills—like leadership—that you can actively use on the job. PhDs are research-specific. They are designed to help you work behind the scenes, contributing to educational knowledge and understanding.

Someone with an EdD might lead a school district. Someone with a PhD might lead the curriculum design research and focus groups that the EdD uses to inform their decisions.

Who should think about getting an EdD?

As mentioned in the introduction an EdD usually is not required. You can become a principal or even a superintendent with a graduate degree. At private schools, you might not even need that. That said, the better your credentials are, the better your chances will be at getting competitive jobs.

And these jobs are competitive. Imagine a school district with six schools. Including specialty positions, this district could easily have 50-60 teachers. About 50% of those teachers—according to national averages—will have a master’s degree.

This district might also have 6-10 principals and dozens of administrators—all of whom will also have graduate degrees.

The superintendent retires. Someone else needs to be hired. Within the district alone, there may be 30+ qualified applicants, and that’s without even considering the potential for an outside hire.

Having an EdD doesn’t guarantee you the job, but it can help. Only 1% of teachers have a doctorate degree, which means that our hypothetical district would be lucky to get even one such applicant.

Doctorates are also often necessary for people who want to work in a college setting. While you may be legally qualified to teach at the college level with only a master’s, many schools heavily prefer candidates with a doctorate.

What jobs do EdDs do?

EdDs can work in a wide range of different leadership positions in both the private and public sectors. Most often, however, they wind up at schools. Principle, superintendent, and other administrative positions are all good examples of potential placements for an EdD.

Some may also work for private education companies—particularly those selling curriculums or education-related software.

While the degree is specific to education, many employers appreciate candidates with proven leadership qualities.

What are the benefits of an EdD?

EdDs give you a qualification. They make you eligible for higher-paying work. That’s nice, but it’s also (obviously) not the primary motivation for most teachers. You didn’t get into the world of education to become wealthy. You did it because you care about teaching. Will an EdD make you a better teacher?

It definitely can.

Here are some benefits of getting an EdD:

• Improved Leadership: You’ll learn not just about educational concepts, but also about how to implement them at the school, or even district level. This advanced level of leadership allows you to significantly amplify the impact of your choices. Where a classroom teacher might interact with thirty students throughout the day, a superintendent will make choices that impact hundreds of people.
• More Up-To-Date Information: Educational technology and best practices change constantly. Teachers stay in the loop through mandatory continuing education. This usually takes the form of seminars or training videos. Still, neither option is even one-tenth as comprehensive as a doctorate program.
• The Ability to Focus on What you Love: The higher up you go with education, the more specific the programs often become. Often, you’ll find that doctorate programs allow you to learn about educational concepts that interest you the most.

And, of course, teachers just enjoy education. That’s probably why so many of them go on to graduate school in the first place. If you love the idea of being a lifelong learner, an EdD is the ultimate summit.

Does it Make Financial Sense?

The financial sensibility of any degree is influenced by many factors. Two of the most important are:

• How much will the degree improve your salary? In the case of an EdD, the answer might be quite a lot. The national average teaching salary is just under $70,000. The average superintendent salary comes in at closer to $200,000.
• How much will you spend getting it? It takes money to make money, as the saying goes. Graduate school is always expensive, but you may get tuition assistance if you are already working as a teacher. There are also lots of grants available for people studying education.

The value of the investment will also depend on where you are at in your career. If you are 50, you’ll get less of a return than if you are 30.

That doesn’t mean older teachers should forget about getting a doctorate. It does mean that there is no time like the present. If you are interested in getting an EdD, start researching programs today. It may take several months to identify both the best educational programs and the right combination of grants and scholarships to pay for them.

The effort is well-worth it.