After getting approved in June 2024, Winthrop’s first PhD program is now off and running, with the focus being education.
By Carolina Smith
Staff Writer
News
Winthrop University received South Carolina State approval for the EDD program on June 27, 2024. In January of 2025, though, there was a formal announcement welcoming the program.
The program is for individuals who are pursuing a doctoral degree in education and innovation.
Theophilus Clark, Director of the First Year Experience and a student in the program, said, “It was a pretty competitive program to get into, and they ended up selecting 17 individuals. I’m not sure how many applicants we had.”
The scheduling style varies from a traditional undergraduate college coursework — it only takes three years to complete. The EDD program only allows two classes over a 14-week period that are broken up into seven-week terms.
The coursework itself is completely online, allowing for versatile schedules to emphasize a problem-solving-motivated approach.
Since the first term started in alignment with the Fall 2025 semester, they are currently in week five of seven. Although the program has been granted approval, there is still uncharted territory to be navigated as time progresses.
A key idea is that there are “several of the individuals who were part of the court work at Winthrop University, and then there were several who are externals. It feels like it’s about half and half, about half from Winthrop and half from external sources. But there seems to be a lot of winter connections, even, um, with those folks who no longer work at the university, many of them seem to have been alumni,” Clark said.
Another important thing to note is that since this is the first doctoral degree pathway available, there will be many more to come in the future as a result.
“I know from hearing it from Dean Costner and hearing it from some of the others, like the program coordinator, Dr. Lisa Harris, and then Dr. Sherry Hoyle,” Clark said.
The success of this program stems from the quality over quantity mentality. The two-course schedule reflects the program’s focus on giving each course the attention it deserves while navigating this unmarked territory.
