ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Education in Christian School Leadership
Ed.D. credential
Explore how to lead a Christian school with a clear mission, support its teachers, and care for the learning and faith of its students.
Doctor of Education in Christian School Leadership: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$24,900.00
$649.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$149
Doctoral Degree
2026 Life in Christ Grant is active
Ministry Experience, Evaluated Against Academic Standards.
Documented prior learning may be considered when it aligns with program outcomes; every credit decision follows academic review.
Program Overview
About this program
Doctoral study in Christian School Leadership is for principals and those advising school boards. A Christian school is a school — with inspections, budgets, employment law and safeguarding — that is also making a claim about how learning and faith relate. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program covers both halves: the philosophy and genuine curriculum integration, and the governance, finance, staff development and parent relationships that decide whether the school survives.
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Recognition of demonstrated learning in theology and ministry
Experienced ministry practitioners demonstrate competencies developed through years of service, theological study, and continuing learning. The assessment connects that learning with the published outcomes of the Doctor of Education in Christian School Leadership through biblical understanding, theological reflection, research, and ministry judgment.
70
Audited questions in this pathway bank
30
Questions drawn for each sitting
60 minutes
Time available for the knowledge component
24 hours
Interval before reassessment
Theological knowledge and degree outcomes
- Published bank title
- Christian School Leadership - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Christian School Leadership
- Question construction
- 14 pathway subject-bank sources contribute 5 questions each, producing the complete 70-question bank.
How completion is reported
- The knowledge component contributes 40% and assessed ministry experience contributes 60% to one weighted result.
- The reported result is no lower than 80%, matching the 80% degree pass mark.
- Reassessment draws a fresh question set and is included in program access, with no additional fee or limit on sittings.
- The integrated assessment covers the published degree plan; separate course assessments, a capstone paper, and a dissertation defense are not required.
Program Objectives
What you will achieve
Integrate advanced theological inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
State a philosophy of Christian education that governs curriculum decisions
Distinguish governance from management and operate correctly in each
Lead staff development and, where necessary, capability processes
Manage school finances so that mission and viability hold together
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Produce a curriculum plan showing genuine faith and learning integration
Draft governance documents that separate board and executive responsibility
Design a staff appraisal and development cycle
Build a school budget with reserves policy and capital planning
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Christian school principal
Academic dean
School board adviser
Education ministry director
Major Subject Areas
The fourteen subjects you study, and the ones the ministry assessment draws on
Foundational and Major-Core Subjects
Four foundations every pathway shares, then four that belong to this field.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Interpretation
How Scripture functions in a school that teaches mathematics and history, and the difference between integration and inserted devotions.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's wisdom tradition as an account of learning, and the theological grounds for teaching subjects that are not religious.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on formation, authority and community, applied to an institution that holds children for thirteen years.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine that underwrites Christian schooling: creation's intelligibility, the image of God in a pupil, and what education is finally for.
Doctoral Seminar: Philosophy of Christian Education
The aims of Christian schooling, covering the competing philosophies that have shaped it and the question of what distinguishes it from schooling with chapel attached.
Doctoral Seminar: Faith and Learning Integration
Integrating faith and learning in actual subject teaching, covering worldview in curriculum, and the difference between integration and inserted devotional content.
Doctoral Seminar: School Governance and Boards
Governance and the board, covering the division between governance and management, trustee duties, appointment, and the failures that follow from confusion.
Doctoral Seminar: Curriculum and Academic Standards
Curriculum and academic standards, covering statutory requirements, assessment, inspection, and the tension between distinctiveness and accountability.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Staff Formation and Supervision
Recruiting, developing, and supervising staff, covering appraisal, professional development, difficult conversations, and capability processes.
Doctoral Seminar: Student Care and Discipline
Student care and discipline, covering behaviour policy, restorative approaches, exclusion, pastoral systems, and safeguarding.
Doctoral Seminar: School Finance and Stewardship
School finance, covering fees and funding, budgeting, reserves, capital projects, and the decisions that determine viability.
Doctoral Seminar: Community and Parent Partnership
Working with parents and the wider community, covering communication, complaints, expectation management, and the school's relationship to local churches.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The spiritual life of a school leader carrying pastoral, academic and financial responsibility at once.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A school leadership project addressing curriculum, governance or staff formation, with evidence and evaluation.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Master's degree in theology, ministry, or a relevant field from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official graduate transcripts demonstrating advanced academic preparation
- Research statement identifying a proposed area of theological or ministry inquiry
- Scholarly or ministry-focused writing sample
- Current curriculum vitae documenting relevant research, church, or ministry leadership experience
- Three ministry or academic recommendations and a faculty interview
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Doctor of Education
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 60 doctoral semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every doctoral-core, research-methods, specialization, elective, and Competency-Based Ministry Assessment requirement group
- Integrate theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience under the published result-weighting policy
- Recognize demonstrated learning against every published degree-plan requirement
Culminating Experience
Demonstrate doctoral-level theological synthesis, research judgment, and ministry leadership through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, combining theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Doctoral Core | 24 | 8 courses. Doctoral theory, disciplinary foundations, and scholarly leadership. |
| Research Design and Methods | 12 | 4 courses. University-wide doctoral preparation in quantitative, qualitative, measurement, and research-ethics competencies. |
| Area of Specialization | 15 | 5 courses. Focused doctoral inquiry supporting the learner's research agenda. |
| Doctoral Elective | 6 | 2 courses. Any doctoral-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated doctoral theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 60 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
60 credit hours
Up to 30 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
20 courses
Across 5 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Doctorate
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Christian School Leadership Degree?
Applying costs nothing, and the work you have already done may count. Have a look at what this pathway asks for before you decide.