Instead of courses, the doctoral program has Knowledge Areas (KAs). KAs are equivalent to 10 traditional course units (except for Scholar-Practitioner Inquiry). To earn a PhD , students must complete both required and elective KAs for a total of 82 credits.

To complete a KA, students select a faculty assessor in a particular area and negotiate an Assessment Contract. This contract describes the student’s educational objectives, the specific knowledge to be acquired, the methods used to demonstrate competency, and a timetable. HOD provides learning guides for each KA to help students with this process. Students choose the study strategies best suited to their learning styles, working independently or collaboratively, online or offline.

KA Assessments normally consist of three parts: Overview, In-depth, and Applied. In the Overview, students demonstrate a broad understanding of the KA conceptual basis and research issues. In the In-depth portion, students concentrate on topics of special interest. In the Applied component, students demonstrate their ability to integrate their KA learning with practice.

Students produce scholarly papers for each KA. When students demonstrate competence in a KA, their faculty assessor submits a certificate of completion and the KA is entered on their transcript.