Education: Doctoral Program Could Be in Place By Fall
Local educators seeking a doctoral degree in education faced limited and somewhat expensive options to obtain the degree.
“There is no 100 percent public doctoral offering locally,” said Constance Carroll, president of San Diego Mesa College. “You would either have to drive a long distance to get to a doctoral program elsewhere or invest substantial funds in a private program.”
But that will soon change. The California State University and the University of California systems will offer a joint doctoral in education program that could be in place next fall.
The agreement ends a yearlong effort by the CSU system to make the program more accessible and affordable. Both CSU schools in San Diego County, CSU San Marcos and San Diego State, plan to work with UCSD to jump-start the program.
“We’re very excited about the prospect because we’ve long been dependent on school leadership on private schools and out-of-state schools,” said Dr. Eileen Oliver, associate dean of CSU San Marcos’ College of Education. “In the past, leadership in schools at the doctoral level was a product of private institutions or out-of-state institutions.”
Carroll said several faculty and staff members at Mesa College are interested in obtaining a doctoral degree in education, but many chose not to because of the limitations.
Currently, some options to get the degree in San Diego would be to enroll in the joint program between San Diego State University and Claremont Graduate University, the program between SDSU and the University of San Diego or to fully enroll in a private institution. The closest public university to offer the degree is University of California Riverside.
CSU had sought legislative approval to offer the program independently, but it was fought by the UC system, which had the exclusive right to offer the doctorate program under the California Master Plan for Higher Education created in 1960.
CSU’s argument was the system produced most of the state’s public school teachers, but most of the doctoral degrees were offered at private institutions.
The new agreement will create a statewide program. Each system will contribute $2 million to start the program.
“This agreement builds on the mutual strengths of the CSU and the UC,” said David Spence, CSU’s executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. “It allows us to be responsive to the many K-12 and community college educators around the state who told us they needed more accessible graduate programs in educational leadership to continue their school improvement efforts.”
A joint committee will be formed with representatives from both systems to develop and implement proposals for the joint programs. Final approval will be needed from the UC Board of Regents and the CSU Board of Trustees before any program can be started. But the initial move to get the ball rolling was enough to satisfy local educators.
“Whatever makes it more convenient and affordable is going to be in the best interest of faculty and administrators in local schools,” said Mesa’s President Carroll. “This is a significant step in the right direction. We applaud this development.”
