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The Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D. or D.Ed.) is a professional doctorate that prepares the student for academic, administrative or specialized positions in education. Like other doctorates, (e.g., the Ph.D., D.A., and so on), the Ed.D./D.Ed. is a terminal degree.

In Australia entry requirements for the Ed.D. are similar to the Ph.D. except that the former requires a number of years of teaching experience. There is also the perception that by many in the academic community that the Ed.D. is of lower status than other doctorates. This may be perpetuated by the use of Ph.D. as a generic term for a doctorate and therefore that Ed.D. students are often unable to access doctoral grants. In one University in NSW, the hierarchy for scholarships is Ph.D. Students, then Masters Students, Followed by Bachelor Honours students, followed then by Ed.D. Students if there is any money left over.

In the United Kingdom, the Ed.D./D.Ed. differs from a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education in that it allows the study of a greater variety of education-related subjects in the first stages of study, focusing on a single topic only at the end. Precisely, the Ed.D. is a vocational degree while the Ph.D. is a research based degree. A typical 3-year (Full Time) Ph.D.^{[citation needed]} in the United Kingdom or Australia usually requires the submission of a maximum 80,000 word thesis; the entire study period would be spent researching the topic and writing the thesis. For a 5-year (Part Time) Ed.D., a student might be required to research various topics in the first two years, preparing a 5,000-6,000-word report for each. The last two years would be spent on the thesis, which might be 45,000-50,000 words working out at about the same amount of words as a Ph.D overall.^{[citation needed]} A key difference between the two forms of doctorate is that the Ph.D student tends to work alone while the Ed.D. student will initially be part of a learning community.

In Ireland Ed.D programs have only recently been introduced and they tend to follow the UK model of initial research modules followed by longer research papers and thesis.

In the United States, the Ed.D. tends to be granted by the Schools of Education of universities. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recognize numerous doctoral degrees as equivalent (but see footnote 3 here). A list can be found at doctorate. In Europe, Australia, and the USA the Ed.D. and Ph.D. are both recognized for appointment as lecturer or professor in a university.

The first Ed.D. degree was awarded in the United States, at Harvard University, in 1921, around the time that the Ph.D. was being introduced into the United Kingdom. The first Ed.D. arrived in England in 1992, at the University of Bristol. Six years later, 29 British universities were offering Ed.D. programs.

In South Africa, following a convention of using Latin in academic designations, the doctorate in education is called Doctor Educationis (D.Ed.) and, like other doctoral degrees in that country, it is entirely a research-based qualification.

• College of education
• Teaching certificate