Currently the study of higher education has been referred to as a multidisciplinary field. Consensus is continuing to evolve regarding both what is considered the appropriate coursework and the foundational knowledgebase of this field. The study of higher education is maturing and has the potential to transition from being seen as a field to being respected as an academic discipline. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the status of the core curriculum in higher education doctoral programs from the perspective of program directors with programs that required the completion of standardized coursework prior to beginning a dissertation. We used online survey analytic techniques to query program directors about their EdD and PhD programs in higher education, credit hours, and curricular content. Our study confirms previous work finding that there is common agreement in the subject matter areas of organization, leadership, administration, and history. What our work adds is that there is a growing consensus among higher education doctoral programs about the position of higher education law and finance in the curricular core. In addition, we find there is a growing interest in public policy and community colleges over time, with a majority of EdD programs including instruction in these areas. Nevertheless, majoritarian agreement does not meet at a level wherein consensus can be inferred, especially within PhD programs where requirements are more varied across programs. In addition, while there is an increasing trend in the inclusion of multiculturalism in higher education doctoral programming, multiculturalism is not currently part of higher education's core. We conclude with research and practice implications for doctoral programs in higher education as a field of study.

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Highly effective teachers not only are the percolators of student dreams but also actively convey their hopes and dreams, catalyzing student dreams of further education. Within rural education contexts, there are not enough Dreamkeepers—teachers, counselors, and other school personnel who inspire student success. This article explores the college aspiration gap among ninth graders by population density. The authors posit that the college enrollment gap between urban/suburban and town/rural students is correlated with this aspiration gap, which in turn is fueled by a lack of Dreamkeepers. They explored this using the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009, comparing student postsecondary aspirations by locale and connecting those to student perceptions of their teachers’ expectations for their success. Differences emerged between urban and rural students concerning the intensity with which ninth graders perceived teachers’ expectations for their future successes. This article begins with a contextual discussion of social perceptions of urbanicity compared to rurality and then turns to a discussion of rural students’ college aspirations and the role of families and schools therein. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Ethics content within higher education graduate programs can help higher education students as emerging leaders become more thoughtful about the decision making process. The purpose of the present manuscript is to explore one vehicle through which current and future higher education leaders can actively contemplate their values and how their values influence their actions when faced with an ethical challenge. The Values -Issue -Action (VIA) Model for Ethical Decision Making is a tool for both classroom use and professional reflection through which one can reflect on their values (V) and how those values shape how they perceive issues (I), and in turn shape their actions (A). Implications for teaching, learning, and practice are discussed.

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