The California State Universities (Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Pomona) and the University of California, Irvine have established a joint doctoral program leading to the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Educational Administration and Leadership. The program is intended to prepare outstanding leaders for K-12, community college, and higher education.

The program offers doctoral study in education building on the mutual programmatic and faculty strengths of these campuses in the California State University and University of California systems. Graduates of the program will be uniquely prepared to participate effectively in building quality educational programs and systems that result in high achievement for all students.

The program includes four areas of emphasis: K-12 instructional leadership, higher education and community college leadership, Pre/K-12 urban educational leadership, and educational technology leadership. There will, however, be involvement in each area of faculty from all of the participating campuses who have strength in the particular field. UCI will be involved in all four emphasis areas and will provide coherence and consistency between the areas of emphasis and their components. This reflects the unique regional nature of the program, designed to build on the strengths of five public institutions of higher education in the region to be served.