Best online doctorate in organizational leadership 2021: Top picks | ZDNet

If you’re a manager looking for the perfect degree to boost or validate your skills, consider pursuing an organizational leadership degree. 

Organizational leaders set high-level goals and guide their company and its employees toward achieving them. Pursuing an organizational leadership doctorate will impart deep knowledge of this field and could help you ascend to the top of your company.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, America’s business will employ 11% more training and development managers by 2029. An organizational leadership doctorate can be your portal to this and other in-demand leadership management positions, along with roles in education.

Read on for our ranking of the best online organizational leadership doctorates, along with more details on what you’ll gain and learn by enrolling.

The best online doctorate in organizational leadership degrees

Before browsing our rankings, take a moment to peruse ZDNet’s ranking methodology. We use publicly available, carefully curated data to select the highest quality academic programs at schools around the country.

Unless otherwise indicated, data is drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and College Scorecard.

What to expect in an online doctorate in organizational leadership degree program

There are two broad types of online doctorate in organizational leadership degrees. With a Ph.D., you can expect a high-level management degree, generally focused on a specific field such as healthcare. If you pursue an Ed.S., expect a degree that prepares you for an educational career. Both degrees culminate in a dissertation.

This 40-50-credit degree takes three to six years to complete and blends practical and theoretical learning.

To succeed in a doctoral organizational leadership program, you need strong skills in business communication, teamwork, and self-motivation. The program also refines skills in critical thinking, leadership, and collaboration.

Doctorate in organizational leadership courses

Organizational leadership doctoral programs can widely differ in curriculum offerings, especially in programs that focus on one industry, such as education or healthcare. In all programs, though, you can be expected to learn about leadership theory, structural organization, and research methods.

Many programs offer electives in organizational culture, leadership and diversity, and contemporary leadership issues.

The following courses represent common course offerings in doctoral organizational leadership programs.

Leadership theory

This course overviews different leadership approaches across organizational settings, unpacking the practices and theoretical concepts that create successful leaders. Students leave this course equipped to analyze and evaluate different leadership styles across industries.

Organizational theory

This course investigates psychological and sociological elements at play in effective organizational design for procedure, leadership, and workflow. Topics may include human relations theory, contingency/decision theory, and environmental and symbolic structures.

Ethics and leadership

Students explore ethical issues that interact with a leader’s role and responsibilities. The class might explore how legal and regulatory issues interact with ethical behavior in a particular industry, such as education or healthcare.

Fiscal management in educational leadership

This course surveys financial and facility management from an educational leader’s perspective. Learners investigate how educational leaders determine budgeting based on federal funding, best practices for fund management, and models for assessing educational programs’ effectiveness.

Organizational leadership degree levels

Different degree levels and credentials in organizational leadership cater to different career plans. To make the most out of an organizational leadership degree, pick a degree that offers the most possibility for your professional goals.

Read on for the curriculum, career outlook, and time expenditure you can expect from different degree levels in organizational leadership.

Certificate in organizational leadership

Length: One year

Cost: $2,000-$10,000

Post-grad careers: Sales manager, store manager, administrative assistant

Certificates and diplomas are quicker, cheaper non-degree credentials that you can generally earn in a few months to a year. Generally, this credential caters to working learners with busy schedules looking to move up. A certificate in organizational leadership might serve as a way to move from a low-level customer service representative role to becoming a low-level manager.

These programs generally teach introductory coursework on concepts such as change management, organizational behavior, and leadership studies.

Associate in organizational leadership

Length: Two years

Cost: $10,000-$20,000

Post-grad careers: Executive assistant, project manager, store manager

Though you generally do not need a degree to work as a manager in retail, construction, and IT, it can help to earn an associate degree in organizational leadership. 

This type of degree typically caters to working learners who want to validate or boost their credentials in management. It takes around two years to earn. Course topics in this degree usually include sociology, organizational leadership, and leadership theory.

Credit earned towards this degree may sometimes be applied to a four-year bachelor’s, too.

Bachelor’s in organizational leadership

Length: Four years

Cost: $40,000-$150,000

Post-grad careers: Human resources manager, sales manager, industrial production manager

A four-year bachelor’s in organizational leadership may open many job opportunities. For example, human resources positions sometimes require an organizational leadership degree. 

A 120-credit organizational leadership bachelor’s often emphasizes projects and experiential learning. It may culminate with a portfolio presentation or allow students to pursue an internship.

This degree usually delves deeper into psychology, sociology, and organizational behavior theory and develops people skills in business communication, conflict resolution, and collaborative leadership.

Master’s in organizational leadership

Length: Two to three years

Cost: $50,000-$100,000

Post-grad careers: Management analyst, compensation and benefits manager, medical and health services manager

An organizational leadership master’s can open job opportunities at or near the highest management level in industries including healthcare, education, and manufacturing. 

This two-year, 30-40-credit degree explores advanced leadership theory and practice, organizational behavior theory, and psychology. The degree cultivates people skills in collaborative leadership and business communication alongside hard skills such as fiscal management and project management. 

This is a terminal degree for many learners, as it can prepare you for C-level leadership positions across many settings.

Doctorate in organizational leadership

Length: Three to six years

Cost: $50,000-$200,000

Post-grad careers: Training and development manager, top executive, university professor

A doctoral degree in organizational leadership can qualify you to become a training and development manager or C-level leader who evaluates and defines organizations’ goals and practices. It can also qualify you to become a university professor in the organizational leadership field.

The degree teaches the most advanced leadership and organizational behavior theory and practice, plus quantitative and qualitative research skills. Students leave this degree with sharpened skills in leadership evaluation and analysis, problem-solving, and collaborative leadership.

In conclusion

A doctoral degree of any kind is an undertaking. 

Some managers may feel hesitant to pursue an organizational leadership doctorate. However, this unique terminal degree may send you to the top of the ladder, where you can not only lead others but analyze and improve the state of leadership for your organization as a whole.