PHD - Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) | Leadership

The Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership is designed to equip you for the highest level of scholarship and performance in leading churches, denominational agencies, educational institutions, and ministry organizations. Graduates will have the knowledge and methodological tools to conduct research on the pressing ministry leadership issues of the day.

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Program Overview

This program is designed to prepare working professionals to understand the complexities and challenges of leading change within organizations with the purpose of leading and creating transformative organizations and communities. This interdisciplinary program provides you with opportunities to engage in scholarship and research and develop professional competencies related to:

Organizational
Structures

Leadership
Strategies

Analyzing Organizational
Culture

Team and Workplace
Culture Development

Leading Organizational
Change

Workspace Dynamics
in a Technological Culture

*Each seminar requires a substantial amount of preparation, including reading and completion of written assignments.

This program enables you to pursue your own goals and research interests, providing several pathways to build research skills to strengthen your ministry, church, or organization. Students may build or advance their careers as pastors, professors, researchers, organizational leaders, strategists, or leadership consultants.

Admission Requirements

Rather than being completed at the end of the seminars, the dissertation will be embedded within the seminar schedule (9 hours over three semesters), with portions of the dissertation developed and written in conjunction with the core and discipline-specific seminars.

  • A Master's Degree

    A Master’s degree (36 or more hours) in a field of theological/ministry studies from a regionally accredited university or seminary.

  • Graduate Cumulative GPA Requirement: 3.0

    Applicants who have not this requirement may be required to take leveling courses or enter the program on a probationary status.

  • Graduate Writing Sample

  • Currently Enrolled in Ministry Service

    Current role in some area of ministry service within a church, denomination, educational institution, parachurch organization, mission agency or similar organization

Tuition

Seminars will be full-semester (15 weeks) in length. Most students will take two seminars per semester, enabling them to complete the full program in under three years. The student can expect to pay less than $31,500 for the full program.

Ph.D. Leadership

50%
Online
60
Hours
Less Than
$31500

Sample Schedule

The PhD in Leadership includes 48 hours of doctoral seminars, with 21 core hours shared with other PhD students in general areas of leadership theory and practice, 21 hours of discipline-specific seminars in Christian leadership, and 6 hours of focused dissertation hours. The Core seminars include a research methodology seminar which helps prepare students for research and writing of the dissertation.

Embedded Dissertation

Rather than being completed at the end of the seminars, the dissertation will be embedded within the seminar schedule (6 hours over two semesters), with portions of the dissertation developed and written in conjunction with the core and discipline-specific seminars.