Reinhardt University's advanced graduate and doctoral programs — the Education Specialist (EdS), Doctor of Education (EdD), and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) — do not require qualifying or comprehensive examinations as a condition of degree progress or advancement to candidacy.
Academic progress is evaluated through coursework performance, cumulative GPA standards, and the Applied Capstone Project sequence. Students are assessed continuously throughout their program rather than at a single high-stakes examination point.
Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy
Doctor of Education (EdD)
An EdD student advances to doctoral candidacy upon the successful completion of all pre-capstone coursework requirements — 39 credit hours across the Foundational Education Theory, program Core, Research & Evaluation Core, and Specialization Electives components — with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and no unresolved academic deficiencies.
Upon advancement to candidacy, the student:
- Establishes the Doctoral Capstone Committee (see Doctoral Committee Formation)
- Registers for the Applied Capstone Project sequence (EDU 887–900)
- Is governed by the Capstone Enrollment & Satisfactory Progress standards described under Academic Standards & Satisfactory Progress
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
A DBA student advances to doctoral candidacy upon the successful completion of all pre-capstone coursework requirements — 39 credit hours across the program components — with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and no unresolved academic deficiencies.
Upon advancement to candidacy, the student:
- Establishes the Doctoral Capstone Committee (see Doctoral Committee Formation)
- Registers for the Applied Capstone Project sequence (DBA 887–890)
- Is governed by the Capstone Enrollment & Satisfactory Progress standards described under Academic Standards & Satisfactory Progress
Education Specialist (EdS)
The EdS does not include a capstone sequence and therefore does not have a formal advancement to candidacy milestone. EdS students progress through the program via continuous coursework enrollment and are evaluated against cumulative GPA and course grade standards throughout. See Academic Standards & Satisfactory Progress.