Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership (PhD)

Designed for highly motivated students, this hybrid online PhD program is well-suited for pastors, missionaries, para-church ministry leaders, teachers and other Christian leaders looking for a way to heighten their professional development and give them a deep understanding of biblical leadership. Other benefits include:

• Doesn’t require full-time residency, allowing students to remain active in their ministries or vocations.
• Only requires you to meet on campus two weeks a year.
• Courses are delivered in a unique, blended learning model that combines online and face-to-face classes – and only requires a few weeks of residency for the entire program!
• Earn your degree from an accredited Bible college in Pennsylvania and a reputable seminary that connects theological and social science truth in a practical way.
• Interact face-to-face with global leaders who have led colleges, organizations and churches, as well as written dozens of books.
• Gain the skills and opportunities to publish your papers and dissertation.
• Engage with diverse leaders from around the world. Students come from 19 different countries with an even mix of male and female.
• Students are serving in a variety of fields: church, education, non-profit and business.
• Students can study in a variety of research designs: qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods.

The PhD in Leadership will prepare you for a wide range of service and/or ministry contexts. Here is a sampling of careers our PhD alumni serve in:

• Full-Time Faculty
• College President
• CEO of NGO
• College Administrator
• Vice-President of NGO
• Senior Pastor

• Gain the ability to think and execute skillfully as servant-leaders. This core competency focuses on the acquisition of the essential knowledge, heart-level commitments and skills needed to carry out the servant leadership model.
• Grow as leader-teachers. This core competency focuses on the acquisition of indispensable knowledge and rational skills necessary in comprehending human development processes, learning theory and the teaching-learning process.
• Build and perfect skills as organizational leaders. This core competency focuses on the acquisition of comprehensive knowledge of major leadership theories and related practice.
• Develop and mature as organizational change agents. This core competency focuses on the essential knowledge, theory-base and skills needed to function as an agent of change within a church, mission organization, faith-based organization, non-profit organization or an institution of higher education.
• Cultivate skills as researcher-scholars. This core competency focuses on the development of research skills necessary in the completion of a research doctoral degree.

The PhD in Leadership is a cohort-based program. Students will enter the program with a group of 10 to 14 other students. This cohort follows a prescribed sequence of courses together. Because cohort learning involves a group of students who start and finish their degree together, students experience a number of educational advantages. Cohort learning, combined in a blended manner with both face-to-face and internet-enhanced learning, offers one of the most effective learning opportunities available to the doctoral student. Genuine, rich, and deep relationships will be developed through the course of the program as students support and serve each other in the quest for knowledge. As part of a cohort group, doctoral level students will be expected to ground their research in significant and pertinent literature and to share resources with their colleagues in preparation for on site seminars.