Division faculty and students participate in IRHE research projects, which seek to explore and document issues that affect performance and capacity for renewal in American post-secondary educational institutions. The close academic links and the physical proximity to the Institute allow the division's students to form collegial relations with the faculty and researchers in a small, friendly, intellectually stimulating setting. The research skills needed by the division's doctoral students are developed through a combination of course work and mentored research. At the conclusion of course work, the student is capable of designing an effective and relevant research project for a dissertation, a benchmarking study, or other types of investigation. All students in the division practice what they are learning in the classroom in real-life professional settings, from positions as researchers at IRHE, to academic advisors at Wharton, to serving as assistants to members of Penn's senior administrative staff.
Students can structure their coursework and their research around their own special interests.
Classes are entirely discursive, encouraging the exchange of ideas that is essential to the learning process, and the regular courses are enhanced by informal seminars with distinguished visiting colleagues on a wide variety of relevant topics. The Ph.D. program is only open to full-time students. All master's students and all doctoral students who have not previously done graduate work in higher education administration must take these four courses. Those doctoral students who have done graduate level work in higher education can apply transfer credits to the fulfillment of the core course requirements. In addition, those with extensive work experience in higher education may, with the approval of their advisor, waive one or more of the core courses based on knowledge accumulated in the work place.