Lead With Impact

Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies (EdD)

Become a visionary leader in any field with our online leadership doctorate.

100% Online

Complete your degree online from anywhere.

Cohort Structure

Enjoy collaborative learning as you progress with a consistent group.

Interdisciplinary

Prepare to lead in any field.

Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies (EdD)

The Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies at the University of Lynchburg is a fully online, 54-credit-hour doctoral program designed for working professionals who want to grow as effective, ethical leaders and create meaningful change in their organizations and communities.

Built for leaders across professional settings, this leadership doctorate combines a strong foundation in leadership studies with the flexibility to pursue a concentration aligned with your career goals. This structure allows you to strengthen your leadership practice while gaining specialized knowledge in the area most relevant to your work.

Throughout the program, you’ll examine how leadership shapes organizations, systems, and outcomes. Coursework emphasizes the application of leadership theory, research, communication, ethics, and organizational change to real-world challenges.

You’ll build the skills to evaluate complex issues, make informed decisions, and lead improvement in a wide range of professional environments.

Lynchburg’s EdD in Leadership Studies is designed to help you connect doctoral study with professional practice. Whether your goal is to advance in your current role, expand your influence, or prepare for new leadership opportunities, the program equips you to lead with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

Why should Lynchburg’s online doctorate in leadership program be your top choice?

Designed to cultivate innovative leaders who make a difference in their communities.

At Lynchburg, our EdD program is designed to transcend the ordinary, enhancing leadership abilities across all types of communities.

Designed for working professionals: Our program fits seamlessly into your busy life, offering online classes with scheduled meeting times.
Cohort model: Learn and grow in a supportive and collaborative environment.
Refined skill set: Refine your analytical, problem-solving, and research skills, all deeply rooted in empirical study.
Practical application: Apply leadership theories, models, and techniques in your professional setting.

Unique Aspects of our Leadership Doctorate: Organizational Leadership Systems, Ethics, and Beyond

Program Philosophy

Mission

The doctoral program in Leadership Studies will expand the leadership capacity within communities by helping leaders better understand the dynamics and interactions of public, nonprofit, government, agency, and higher education organizations. Rather than training leaders who are isolated from other disciplines, this program will create an interdisciplinary program that respects and supports the broad diversity of programs within communities.

Goals

To engage students in a rigorous interdisciplinary process of exploration, inquiry, engagement, practice, and reflection to expand their leadership knowledge and skills
To prepare students to exhibit leadership that will enable schools, colleges, nonprofits, community agencies, or other organizations to meet identified goals and objectives
To develop visionary leaders who can work across boundaries and disciplines to positively impact the community.

Objectives

To provide students with interdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to lead an organization in changing and adapting in an increasingly global environment
To enable students to examine community issues from an interdisciplinary, systemic perspective
To provide students with an opportunity to develop creative and innovative responses to local, state, national, and international issues
To allow students to demonstrate analytical, problem-solving, and research skills grounded in a sound empirical study
To implement and evaluate leadership practices based on various theories, models, and approaches to achieving organizational effectiveness
To examine the dynamics of communities with a focus on interrelationships of leadership, capital, vision, and culture

Focus

The doctoral program in leadership studies will be interdisciplinary. Rather than focusing specifically on educational leadership, the program will include coursework from across the academic disciplines of the University of Lynchburg.

Consistent with the challenges facing contemporary leaders, prospective students can anticipate that coursework will include emphases on legal and ethical issues, economic trends and considerations, public policy, governmental affairs, human resources, sustainability considerations, community health, organizational change strategies, quantitative and qualitative research methods and dissertation planning, effective communication, diversity and disability policy issues, community dynamics, and other critical considerations.

These emphases will be reflected in the 14 doctoral courses that are required within the program.

Doctor of Education in Leadership Studies Concentrations

Choose a concentration to focus your coursework and shape your dissertation or capstone project.

Athletic Leadership Concentration

The EdD in Leadership Studies with an Athletic Leadership concentration at the University of Lynchburg is a 54-credit-hour, fully online doctoral program designed for athletic leaders who want to strengthen their ability to lead, assess, and improve organizations across collegiate, professional, and community sports settings.

This concentration helps you build the leadership perspective needed to navigate decision-making under public scrutiny, manage risk and compliance, and create sustainable value through strategy, operations, and audience engagement.

You’ll develop advanced expertise in leadership related to legal issues in sports, sports sales and marketing, and facility and event management. You’ll strengthen your ability to evaluate organizational structures, lead stakeholder relationships, and respond to the policies and challenges that shape ethical and effective sports leadership.

You’ll also build the perspective needed to lead culture, communication, and change within sports organizations.

Education Leadership Concentration

The EdD in Leadership Studies with an Education Leadership concentration at the University of Lynchburg is a 54-credit-hour, fully online doctoral program designed for educators and school leaders who want to strengthen their ability to lead improvement across schools, districts, and learning systems.

This concentration helps you build the expertise needed to make informed decisions that affect student outcomes, organizational culture, staffing, and instructional systems, especially in environments shaped by policy, accountability, and community expectations.

You’ll develop advanced expertise related to public policy, leading boards and staff, curriculum, instruction and assessment, and special education. You’ll strengthen your ability to evaluate programs, analyze organizational performance, and apply evidence-based practices that support improvement at the classroom, school, and district levels.

You’ll also build the perspective needed to lead governance, communication, and change in educational systems.

Healthcare Leadership Concentration

The EdD in Leadership Studies with a Healthcare Leadership concentration at the University of Lynchburg is a 54-credit-hour, fully online doctoral program designed for healthcare professionals who want to lead effectively in complex care systems where decisions must balance quality, outcomes, workforce realities, and operational demands.

This concentration helps you build the foundation needed to examine how healthcare organizations lead through complexity, implement change, and improve performance while maintaining ethical standards, compliance, and stakeholder trust.

You’ll develop advanced expertise related to epidemiology of community public health issues, organizational behavior and leadership in healthcare, healthcare management, and specialized study in informatics or finance. You’ll strengthen your ability to assess systems-level challenges and apply evidence to support better decisions across clinical, administrative, and community contexts.

You’ll also build the perspective needed to lead communication, culture, and change in healthcare environments.

Interdisciplinary Concentration

The EdD in Leadership Studies with an Interdisciplinary Leadership concentration at the University of Lynchburg is a 54-credit-hour, fully online doctoral program designed for professionals who want to strengthen their leadership practice across sectors.

This concentration helps you build the foundation needed to examine complex challenges that don’t fit neatly within a single field. You’ll strengthen your ability to frame problems, evaluate evidence, and apply leadership strategies that improve decision-making in a wide range of professional environments.

You’ll also sharpen your ability to analyze systems, identify where leadership breaks down, and implement interventions that create measurable improvement and make an impact in your community.

Nonprofit Leadership Concentration

The EdD in Leadership Studies with a Nonprofit Leadership concentration at the University of Lynchburg is a 54-credit-hour, fully online doctoral program designed for nonprofit professionals who want to strengthen their leadership practice in mission-driven organizations.

This concentration helps you build the expertise needed to examine how nonprofits build trust, sustain resources, lead people, and create measurable outcomes, especially in environments shaped by stakeholders, public policy, and community needs.

You’ll develop advanced expertise related to public policy, government, politics and leadership, leading boards and staff, and fundraising and grant writing. You’ll strengthen your ability to assess governance structures, organizational capacity, and the leadership decisions that influence sustainability and impact.

You’ll also build the perspective needed to lead ethical decision-making, stakeholder communication, and organizational change.

Curriculum and Resources

EdD in Leadership Studies Core Curriculum

Total Core Hours Required: 42

Athletic Leadership Concentration

LS 806: Public Policy (3)
SPMG 850: Legal Issues In Sport (3)
SPMG 840: Sport Sales And Marketing (3)
SPMG 830: Sport Facility And Event Management (3)