Half of Doctoral Students Never Finish. Here’s How to Pick a Program Where You Will.
If you’re in education, you know someone who is still ABD. Maybe more than one. A colleague who finished the coursework, moved into a bigger job, had every intention of getting back to the dissertation — and five years later still introduces themselves without the title they are so-close-to.
That is the quiet reason a lot of sitting administrators never apply. It isn’t that you doubt you can do doctoral-level work. You’ve written board presentations, defended budgets, and rebuilt a master schedule in August. You doubt the odds. And you’re right to: fewer than half of all doctoral students finish what they start.
So the useful question isn’t whether you’re capable of a doctorate in educational leadership. It’s how to choose a program built so that smart and accomplished – but very busy! – people like you actually cross the finish line.
Ask when the dissertation actually begins
This is the single most predictive question you can ask on a campus visit, and almost nobody asks it.
In a traditional program, the dissertation is a separate phase that starts after coursework ends. That structure works for a full-time student on a campus. For a principal, it means the research begins at the exact moment the external structure disappears — no more classes, no more deadlines, no more Saturday cohort keeping you honest. That gap is where doctorates go to stall.
Programs designed for working leaders invert this. You do a meaningful share of the dissertation inside your coursework, so each semester produces a real chapter instead of a paper you’ll never open again. By the time the last class ends, you’re not staring at a blank document — you’re revising.
Ask when you get an advisor, and who
“You’ll be assigned an advisor after your comprehensive exams” is a warning sign. Two or three years is a long time to develop a research question with no one reading it.
Find out whether you’re paired with a faculty advisor at admission, how often you meet, and what happens when your topic shifts — because it will. A superintendent search, a new commissioner’s regulations, an unexpected enrollment drop in your district: any of these can redirect a study. What matters is whether there’s someone whose job it is to help you adjust rather than start over.
Ask whether the calendar was designed for someone who runs a building
September through June, your evenings are not reliably yours. A program that requires two weeknights on campus is not a program you can finish, no matter how strong the faculty are.
The formats that work for sitting administrators tend to share a shape: coursework delivered online, plus in-person time concentrated into one predictable weekend or one monthly meeting — scheduled far enough ahead that you can build your year around it. Cohorts matter here too, and not for the reasons the brochure says. A cohort means fifteen other people who know exactly what week you’re having, and who notice when you go quiet. These are peers, colleagues, and over time they become a great source of support.
Ask what it costs to finish, not to enroll
Compare total credits and total cost, not the per-credit sticker price. If you already hold your SBL or SDL, some programs will count that preparation and require fewer credits — which changes both the price and the number of semesters between you and the degree.
And ask for the completion rate. Specifically: what percentage of the last graduating cohort finished on time? A program that tracks that number and volunteers it is telling you something about how it’s run.
Two paths, depending on where you’re starting
CITE partners with accredited institutions on two doctoral routes for New York school leaders, and the right one depends mostly on your credentials and membership.
If you’re a CSA or SAANYS member who already holds at least the SBL, the Russell Sage College Doctorate in K-12 Educational Leadership at citesage.com is built around that starting point: 46 credits rather than a full doctoral load, hybrid cohorts meeting one weekend a month in NYC, Long Island, or Westchester, an advisor assigned at entrance, and dissertation work distributed across the coursework. Graduates have gone on to superintendencies and to present their research nationally.
If you’re not a CSA or SAANYS member, or you want a different focus, the Saint Peter’s University partnership at citesaintpeters.com is open more broadly — including to teachers. It offers an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership for K-12, an Ed.D. for higher education leadership, a Ph.D. for those aiming at professorships or research, and an ABD completion option for anyone carrying an unfinished dissertation from another institution. Classes are online with one monthly in-person meeting, and the intended pace is 36 months including the dissertation.
The year is never going to be quiet
There is no September when your building will be simple enough to make this easy. There is only the version of you three years from now who either started or didn’t.
If you’re ready to look seriously, compare both programs and talk to an advisor about which fits your certification, your membership, and your calendar. Start at citesage.com or citesaintpeters.com, or call CITE at 877-922-2483 to talk it through with someone who has walked a lot of administrators through this decision.
