The College of Education is introducing two new Ph.D. programs in Curriculum and Instruction as well as Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies. | Edith Rubio/The Cougar

As education serves as the fuel for Houston and the nation’s economic engine, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved two new doctoral programs for the College of Education. Students will have the opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as in Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies.

“These new programs, combined with other research-oriented doctoral degrees, are central to the college’s Tier One mission,” said Robert McPherson, dean of the College of Education, in a UH press release.

Students pursuing the Curriculum and Instruction Ph.D. will be prepared to teach at a major university, direct research or evaluate departments in school districts or other organizations. Students must apply by February 1, 2015 for the program in fall 2015.

The Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies doctoral degree will prepare students to work in administrative positions in universities and community colleges, research settings and organizations, program development and evaluation organizations or with policy and advocacy organizations. Classes for this program will begin in fall 2015.

“It is increasingly recognized that a high-quality P-20 education pipeline, culminating in completion at the postsecondary sector, is essential to future job success and quality of life,” said ELPS associate professor Catherine Horn.

“It also is critical for the economic viability of the region and the nation.”

According to the original proposal generated by Horn, college readiness rates differ dramatically among types of students: 40 percent of white students, 23 percent of African-American students and 20 percent of Hispanic students who started public high school graduate-college ready. While two of every three students from the wealthiest quartile enroll in a four-year institution within two years of high school graduation, that proportion shrinks to one in five for those from the bottom quartile.

The college participation gap between rich and poor has not narrowed since the 1960s. Currently, 50 percent of entering postsecondary students receive some type of degree within five years, and about one-quarter receive a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, 41 percent of students from the wealthiest quartile will have received a bachelor’s degree, compared to only 6 percent from the poorest quartile; white students are considerably more likely to receive a bachelor’s degree than black and Hispanic students.

Similar conditions exist in Texas and the Houston region, where there are critical shortfalls, differentiated across racial/ethnic and economic lines, in both the numbers of college ready students and of students who ultimately successfully acquire a postsecondary credential.

“The Ph.D. Program in Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies is grounded in a philosophical belief that the transformational nature of higher education is an instrument for institutional and social change,” said ELPS Chair  Anthony Rolle.

Fundamentally, the new Ph.D.’s. strengthen education at the local, state, national and international levels. UH is one of 13 institutions in Texas nationally accredited under twenty-first century standards by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education as well as, only one of 25 founding member institutions nationwide involved in the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate.

Horn said that with more than 2,500 students studying in over thirty programs, pursuing bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees as well as a wide variety of certifications, these two new concentrations will position the college to be a change agent for Houston by preparing scholars and scholar practitioners to take on our most complex educational issues.

“As such, the primary objectives of the HELPS Ph.D. program are to advance scholarship, research, and practice around issues of access, equity, affordability, student learning, degree completion, and excellence in higher education,” Rolle said.

“Ultimately, these efforts are intended to strengthen education at the local, state, national and international levels and further equity of opportunity for all students, but particularly those traditionally undeserved by our current systems.”

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“College of Education introduces two new doctoral programs” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar