Transform your leadership skills with a CPED Ed.D. program

For professionals seeking to earn a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree, one distinction stands out: the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED).

CPED helps institutions rethink the structure and purpose of the Ed.D. degree, with an interdisciplinary approach and an emphasis on equity, inquiry and real-world application. Understanding what it means to attend a CPED-affiliated university can offer insight into both the quality of the program and the kind of impact it’s designed to make. But what exactly is CPED and why should it matter to you as a prospective doctoral student?

Let’s explore what it means to be a CPED Ed.D. program, how it transforms your leadership capabilities and why University of Idaho’s online Doctor of Education degree program is a standout example.

What is CPED?

Composed of more than 150 institutions across the U.S. and Canada, the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) is working to redesign the Doctor of Education as the degree program of choice for professionals who lead across health care, public service, non-profit organizations, education, the military and more. CPED challenges the traditional model of doctoral education by promoting a framework of Ed.D. programs that are grounded in real-world practice.

While a Ph.D. program often prepares students for research-intensive academic careers, CPED takes a different approach. Its focus is developing scholarly practitioners — leaders who use research, data, inquiry and improvement science to solve pressing problems within their organizations and drive real change.

What makes a CPED institution stand out?

Joining the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate is a rigorous, mission-aligned process that signals a university’s commitment to transforming doctoral education for its students and current professionals. CPED membership also demonstrates an institution’s willingness to reimagine its Ed.D. program through collaboration and shared standards of excellence.

To be eligible for CPED, a university must be an accredited non-profit institution with an existing or soon-to-launch Ed.D. program within its college or school of education. The application process includes formal letters of institutional support, detailed program documentation and an interview with CPED leadership and board member representatives.

Even after acceptance, the commitment continues. CPED member institutions, such as University of Idaho, actively participate in consortium activities and continuously evolve their programs in alignment with CPED’s core principles. For students, this membership showcases a university’s dedication to quality, relevance and real-world impact, clearly signaling that their Ed.D. program is part of a national movement focused on practitioner success.

Why choose a CPED Ed.D. program?

When exploring doctoral programs, it can be difficult to tell what truly sets one apart. CPED offers a clear signal of quality and purpose. Brooke Blevins, dean of University of Idaho’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences (EHHS), says, “Using the CPED framework increases the rigor of Ed.D. programs and ultimately produces meaningful change within organizations and society.”

The CPED distinction provides three major valuable advantages to students:

1. Guided by core principles

At the center of every CPED Ed.D. program is a shared set of guiding principles that shape how students learn and lead. According to the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate framework, the Doctor of Education degree program:

• Is framed around questions of equity, ethics and social justice to bring about solutions to complex problems of practice.
• Prepares leaders who can construct and apply knowledge to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families, organizations and communities.
• Provides opportunities for candidates to develop and demonstrate collaboration and communication skills to work with diverse communities and to build partnerships.
• Provides field-based opportunities to analyze problems of practice and use multiple frames to develop meaningful solutions.
• Is grounded in and develops a professional knowledge base that integrates both practical and research knowledge, which links theory with systemic and systematic inquiry.
• Emphasizes the generation, transformation and use of professional knowledge and practice.

2. Designed for working professionals

CPED Ed.D. programs are built with your career, family and personal goals in mind. They offer the kind of flexibility that makes it possible to advance your education without putting your life on hold. University of Idaho’s Ed.D. program is fully online and structured in course blocks, so you can focus on one class at a time while continuing to lead in your organization.

Every assignment is designed to connect theory to practice, helping you apply what you learn in your current role. If you’re already making organizational decisions or managing teams, you can create real change in real time.

3. Driven by collaboration

As a student in a CPED Ed.D. program, you won’t learn in isolation. Your cohort of classmates might include non-profit leaders, military service members, corporate managers, educators and other professionals from a wide range of industries.

This collaborative structure is intentional. Learning alongside peers from different fields expands your perspective, deepens your leadership skills and fosters a network of changemakers who challenge and support each other every step of the way.