Ed.D. Programs in Massachusetts

Online Ed.D. Programs in Massachusetts

Thanks to state funding and a streamlined calendar, UMass Lowell offers the cheapest online Ed.D. program in Massachusetts. Online doctorates in education that are offered by private universities in Massachusetts will be pricier. The following universities offer online Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) programs in Massachusetts:

1. Bay Path University
2. Boston College
3. Boston University
4. Northeastern University
5. Regis College
6. University of Massachusetts – Lowell

Public Massachusetts Universities

UMass Lowell’s 42-credit Online Ed.D. in Leadership in Schooling is an excellent deal. It comes from a well-known public university with CPED membership. It’s eligible for fellowships and tuition discounts. And it’s an affordable 3-year program for PreK-12 educators—there’s even a STEM Education option if your interested in leading a STEM department or program.

A couple of things to note. This online doctorate in education features an annual one-week, in-person summer residency and does not lead to licensure. Think of it more as a way to expand your leadership horizons—UMass Lowell is looking for Ed.D. candidates with at least three years experience as a teacher and/or instructional leader.

Private Massachusetts Universities

Education Leadership

Looking for unique specialties? Northeastern has developed a 60-credit Online Doctor of Education with concentrations in Higher Education Administration, Innovative Teaching & Learning, Transformative School Leadership, Workplace Learning, and Integrative Studies. It takes around 3-4 years to complete and includes annual in-person residencies in Boston or Seattle. This doctoral program can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis. Northeastern is a CPED member.

Aiming for a organizational leadership position? Check out Regis’s Online Ed.D. in Leadership with the choice of two concentrations—Higher Education Leadership or Organizational Leadership. Classes meet synchronously on one Saturday per month (four times per semester), complemented by asynchronous online work between meetings. All of Regis’s Ed.D. students work full-time while completing this degree; some finish in as little as 3 years. Regis is a CPED member.

You can compare these offerings with Bay Path University’s Online Ed.D. in Education Leadership, which is available in Higher Education and K-12 concentrations. All But Dissertation (ABD) and Ed.S. completion options are also available. This doctorate contains 100% online coursework and three “Immersive Weekends” (one per year). Collaboration is encouraged—you’ll take part in online, faculty-guided cohorts called Communities of Practice (COPs) and be able to participate in group work, Leader-Scholar Communities, and shared workplace research.

Executive Doctorates

Boston College’s cohort-based Online Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education is available in a general track or a concentration in Catholic Higher Education. This is a part-time, 3-year program for experienced administrators—candidates must have a minimum of 7 years of experience in higher education. You’ll take part in online coursework during the academic year and attend in-person week-long residencies in the summer. BC is a CPED member.

Alternatively, you could consider Boston University’s Online Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education. Like BC’s offering, this 6-semester doctorate is aimed at mid-career higher education leaders with 7–10 years of leadership experience. It’s 100% online, with weekly live online sessions and optional in-person summer residency experiences. Internships are available as electives. BU is a CPED member.

Note: For even more options, see our overview of online Doctor of Education programs. This contains rankings of the best online Ed.D. programs, a full listing of all schools offering online Ed.D. programs, and additional advice.

No Dissertation Ed.D. Programs in Massachusetts

When you’re looking at our MA listings, you’ll notice that a number of Ed.D. programs include a “Dissertation in Practice” (DiP) or capstone. We favor Massachusetts universities who have adopted these models, since they give seasoned administrators a chance to apply their research and skills to an immediate educational challenge. For example:

• In Northeastern’s Online Doctor of Education, students work on identifying a problem of practice and developing an action plan at the very start of their program. A faculty advisor is there to mentor and advise as Ed.D. students initiate cycles of data collection and analysis, collaborate with stakeholders, and reflect on their progress.
• Bay Path University’s Online Ed.D. in Education Leadership has a DiP that includes a series of four sequential dissertation courses that will engage you in action research. You’ll choose an educational problem to analyze, develop an improvement plan, act to implement the plan, observe the effects, and then reflect on results as a basis for further efforts.
• Boston College’s Online Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education—with an option to concentrate in Catholic Higher Education—culminates in two doctoral seminars. You’ll be developing a research-focused dossier of scholarly works (e.g. research papers, policy briefs, data visualizations, etc.) and defending your work in an oral presentation.
• Boston University’s Online Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education features a capstone project. Students are expected to identify a higher education problem of practice and develop an evidence-based response. The capstone is spaced over three seminars
• In Regis’s Hybrid Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership, students are asked to take an in-depth look at a critical issue in higher education, research the challenge, and find ways to create positive change. A primary advisor provides guidance. View examples of past DiP projects.

Doctoral Education Funding in Massachusetts

Massachusetts universities offer a variety of funding opportunities to doctoral students, but this information can be hard to find. To save you time, we’ve provided links to internal funding sources for Ed.D. candidates. If you’re interested in external awards, grants, and loans, the Office of Financial Assistance can answer your questions.

American International College

AIC’s section on Types of Financial Aid only lists external opportunities—AIC does not offer merit-based scholarships for graduate students. However, the college does have a Monthly Payment Plan and a limited number of graduate assistantships are available.

Bay Path University

Financial Aid is available for online Ed.D. students. Most of this will be in the usual form of graduate loans and grants. Bay Path scholarships are reserved for MS students. Military families should check out the section on Military Benefits & Services.

Boston College

The Lynch School of Education and Human Development has a separate section on Graduate Tuition & Financial Aid, with details on scholarships (i.e. merit-based awards), assistantships, and federal aid. Named scholarships are for master’s students. You may also want to take a look at the general advice given in Graduate & Law Financial Aid.

Boston University

BU’s Ed.D. programs are run by the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Wheelock has an entire section devoted to Financial Assistance, with a rundown of:

• Scholarships & Fellowships
• Grants, Loans & Work Study
• Graduate Assistantship Positions

And more. Be sure to check out the sub-section on Doctoral Fellowships—there are some excellent awards that are aimed at Ed.D. students.

Endicott College

The college’s Ed.D. programs are part of the Van Loan School, so doctoral students are advised to contact the Assistant Director of Financial Aid with any questions on the financial aid process. Endicott also has an interest-free monthly Tuition Payment Plan.

Harvard University

On the Ed.L.D. program page, it states that all students receive a full tuition & student health fee funding package, plus stipends, work opportunities, and a paid third-year residency at a partner organization. If you need extra funding (e.g. for family expenses), the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) has a comprehensive section on Financial Aid, with sub-sections on Fellowships & Grants, Student Work, and external student loans.

Northeastern University

For the Ed.D, start with the College of Professional Studies (CPS)’s section on Financial Aid. The university also has a Northeastern Monthly Payment Plan, administered through Tuition Management Systems (TMS).

Regis College

The Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership site contains a section on Financing Your Ed.D., with details on strategic partnership tuition discounts and Graduate Assistantships.

University of Massachusetts-Boston

The College of Education and Human Development lists Scholarships for Education Students. UMass Boston’s section on Graduate Student Financial Aid has more general info about assistantships (stipends & tuition credits), grants, and loans. Full-time employees of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are eligible for tuition credits. UMass Boston recommends that you contact the HR office at your workplace for more information.

University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

Graduate Studies has a section on Fellowships & Funding that’s worth investigating; doctoral fellows are eligible for a couple of awards. UMass Dartmouth also has a proximity tuition program in place for Rhode Island residents who are in graduate programs, though it’s best to check if the Ed.D. qualifies.

University of Massachusetts-Lowell

UMass Lowell has a general section on Costs and Aid for Graduate Programs with details on scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships.

Note: If a university name is missing from the list, we didn’t find specific examples of Ed.D. funding beyond private & federal loans and external aid.

Educational Leadership Jobs in Massachusetts

Educational Leadership Career Outlook

For a bird’s eye overview of the MA administrative landscape, begin with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’s employment & salary data for K-12 education administrators and postsecondary education administrators. As you might expect from its national reputation as an education state, Massachusetts is a hotbed of educational jobs.

• The Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH metropolitan area has one of the highest employment levels for K-12 education administrators in the country. Employment across the state is also high. The DESE’s section on Data & Accountability is a treasure trove of information for this sector. It posts School and District Profiles and annual Statewide Reports, with data on average teacher salaries, student enrollment numbers, and more. You may find these sources helpful for your dissertation research, as well as your job prep.
• Massachusetts is often in the top three of states with the highest employment levels of postsecondary education administrators, right up there with California. Higher education accounts for a large chunk of the Massachusetts’s economy, and the state is packed with 100+ colleges & universities. However, shrinking student populations have led to a number of closures in the past decade. Something to bear in mind if you’re looking at jobs with small private colleges.

Educational Leadership Salaries

Massachusetts—and the Greater Boston area in particular—is notorious for its high cost of living and housing. So it’s important to balance costs against the following salary statistics.

• BLS statistics show that Massachusetts K-12 education administrators are some of the highest paid professionals in the country. You’ll find exact salary numbers in BLS’s section on State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates for Massachusetts. In addition, the DESE’s data on Teacher Salaries will give you ballpark educator salary averages for each MA district.
• Postsecondary education administrators are also paid well, though Massachusetts is not among the top states for wages in this category. You can compare these numbers to the Comptroller of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s Statewide Payroll, which includes salaries of higher education administrators in MA public universities & colleges.

Educational Leadership Job Boards

National job sites will have plenty of MA educational leadership jobs on their books (e.g. SchoolSpring, HigherEd, LinkedIn, etc.). However, there are some useful MA-specific job boards to consult, including:

• MASC Superintendent Searches, with postings for in-state and out-of-state jobs for superintendents (including assistant & interim), directors, presidents, and more.
• MASS Job Postings, with openings for superintendents, school business managers, directors, and more.
• MASSLive, with postings for local jobs in education administration (all levels).
• Boston Public Schools TalentEd, which features job listings for principals, directors, superintendents, deans, and more.
• AISNE Job Board, which features openings in member schools of the Association of Independent Schools in New England.

Educational Leadership Organizations in Massachusetts

Educational Leadership Associations

• Boston Association of School Administrators and Supervisors (BASAS): BASAS provides educational and administrative services for schools in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the Local 6 American Federation of School Administrators™ (AFSA).
• Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC): MASC is a member-driven association supporting Massachusetts school leaders (it often conducts superintendent searches). It also acts as a voice of MA school committees, representing their perspective to outside agencies and governmental bodies.
• Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS): MASS is a statewide organization dedicated to the professional and advocacy concerns of school superintendents and assistant superintendents.
• Massachusetts School Administrators’ Association (MSAA): MSAA is a membership organization serving the needs of elementary level, middle level, and high school administrators in Massachusetts. MSAA used to be the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators’ Association, which is why you may see it referred to as MSSAA. It merged with MESPA (the elementary association) in 2017.
• Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA): MTA represents 110,000+ members throughout Massachusetts, including teachers, faculty, support professionals, and administrators at public schools, colleges, and universities. It has a higher education arm.

Educational Leadership Professional Groups

• MassPartners for Public Schools: This is a coalition/advocacy group of teacher, parent, school committee, principal, and superintendent organizations in Massachusetts. It shares a commitment to improving public schools and education standards.

Note: Remember that state and national educator organizations often have funds and scholarships available for continuing education (e.g. Ed.D.). Check the website and ask about opportunities.

Educational Leadership Events in Massachusetts

Educational Leadership Conferences

• MASC Day on the Hill: This is a legislative advocacy day that brings school committee members, superintendents and student leaders to the State House in Boston to meet with executive and legislative leadership, as well as local senators and representatives.
• MASC/MASS Joint School Leadership Conference: This is billed as the largest annual gathering of education leaders in Massachusetts, with a program of speakers, panel sessions, exhibits, demonstrations, and networking opportunities.
• MASSCue Fall Conference: This October event aims to provide MA educators and administrators with exciting ways to enhance teaching and learning with technology.
• MASS Executive Institute: This 3-day conference/professional development program is for superintendents, assistant superintendents and district administrators. It’s held during the second or third week of July.
• MASS Midwinter Meeting: This one-day event for superintendents includes a keynote address and a panel of practitioners. It takes place in the third or fourth week of January, in close proximity to the release of Chapter 70 State Aid figures. MASS also hosts a similar Spring Meeting.
• MSAA Summer Institute: MSSA’s 3-day professional development event in July includes pre-conference workshops, sessions, and exhibits.
• Women’s Educational Leadership Network (WELN) Conference: Hosted by MASS, this one-day event features presentations, panels, and networking opportunities.

Educational Leadership Training

• Assistant Superintendent Leadership Seminars: Organized by MASS, these one-day sessions take place throughout the year.
• DESE-Sponsored PD Offerings: The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) offers a number of professional development, training, and/or technical assistance opportunities for educators through its offices (e.g. Curriculum and Instruction: STEM).
• MSAA Leadership Licensure Program: MSAA runs a one-year licensure program that prepares aspiring administrators for Initial Licensure as Principals/Assistant Principals (PreK-6; 5-8; 9-12), and Supervisors/Directors.
• New Superintendent Induction Program (NSIP): This 3-year professional development program is a collaboration between the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and MASS.