Doctor of Education in Exceptional Student Education

Program Leader: Dr. Elizabeth Cramer
E-mail: cramere@fiu.edu
Phone: 305-348-2445
Department: Educational and Psychological Studies

Brief Description of the Program:

The Doctor of Education in Exceptional Student Education (ESE) prepare individuals to assume leadership roles within the field of special education including administrative, supervisory, research, and/or university faculty positions. To support leadership-development goals, the program has adopted an organizational structure that requires students to participate in scholarship beyond course requirements (e.g., university teaching, presenting at professional meetings, grant writing).

Admission Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s and master’s degrees (or equivalent) from accredited institutions;
2. A minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 hours of upper-division undergraduate coursework and at least a 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale in all graduate coursework;
3. A minimum combined score of 1000 on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) verbal and quantitative sections;
4. A résumé describing at least the past five years of employment history and significant community, professional, or college extracurricular activities;
5. A personal interview with the admissions committee;
6. Three letters of recommendation from persons knowledgeable about the applicant’s academic and/or professional competence;
7. A letter of intent explaining applicant’s career goals and their relation to the doctoral program.

Program Requirements:

1. Total credits (minimum): 99
1. Professional Studies Core credits: 6
2. Special Education Core credits: 21
3. Research Methods and Statistics credits: 12
4. Cognate or Minor Area of Study credits: 15-18
5. Dissertation credits: 24

This program requires the completion of a minimum of 99 credit hours of academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree along with non-credit leadership activities.
Program of Study:

Additional Program Information:

1. Time Limit: All program requirements, including the successful defense of the dissertation, must be completed within nine (9) years of first enrollment in the doctoral program.

1. Transfer Credit: Doctoral programs may accept a maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate credit earned from another institution beyond a bachelor's degree. An exception is made for courses contained within an earned master's or doctoral degree. For such courses, the maximum is one fewer than half of the total credits required for the program. Graduate credit is not awarded for life experiences. Acceptance of transfer credits for a course is dependent upon the following provisions:
1. The student received a grade of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale;
2. The course was taken at an accredited institution;
3. The course was relevant, as judged by an appropriate committee of the department or program, to the graduate program in which the student is accepted;
4. The course is listed on an official transcript received by Graduate Admissions;
5. The course will be no older than 6 years or 9 years at the time of graduation with a master's or doctoral degree, respectively (does not apply to credits earned as part of a completed graduate degree).
6. Additional information regarding graduate transfer credit may be found at the University Graduate School website/Graduate Policies and Procedures manual at http://www.fiu.edu/~ugs/gpm/.

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updated: 07/22/08