The program of study in the CSU/UC Irvine Joint Ed.D. Program in Educational Administration and Leadership includes core courses in educational leadership, policy, and reform; organizational theory; and diversity and inequality in education. These are offered on a regional basis. The program of study also includes courses in research and evaluation methods. The research courses offered by California State University campuses will be available on a regional basis, although individual CSU campuses may choose to offer certain research courses. The emphasis area specializations include courses that address topics central to the particular area of focus; these are offered locally by the CSU campuses.

The listing below identifies the emphasis area courses planned in years one and two for the four specialization areas: K-12 instructional leadership, higher education and community college leadership, Pre/K-12 urban educational leadership, and educational technology leadership. The emphasis area courses include one or more Special Topics course(s) in each specialization. The Special Topics courses are intended to allow for coverage of a wide range of issues and to draw on strengths of regular and visiting faculty. They may vary from year to year in relation to faculty and student interests.

The emphasis area courses are designed primarily for candidates in the particular specialization, although other students may occasionally enroll in them. They will be offered locally by the CSU campuses that are the leads for the specific emphasis areas. In contrast, the core courses are intended to enroll candidates from all of the emphasis areas. The CSU research courses will be offered regionally for all candidates and/or on some individual CSU campuses. Each of the courses to be offered by UCI will be taken by all candidates on the UCI campus.