Empire State University’s Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership and Change (ELC) is designed to prepare mid-career practicing professionals to be successful in higher-education leadership positions. The ELC program uses a scholar-practitioner model, which supports self-directed, collaborative learning among researchers, practitioners, educators, and students. Scholar-practitioners tackle problems they identify in their own practice, apply their scholarship to study and solve these problems in collaborative ways, and include important stakeholders at multiple levels.