The College of Education at the University of Illinois has engaged in graduate education for community college personnel for many years. The Department of Educational Organization and Leadership (EOL) at the Urbana-Champaign campus offers the Community College Executive Leadership ( CCEL ) graduate option. The CCEL program is designed for current community college administrators and faculty leaders who aspire to executive leadership positions as presidents, vice presidents, and deans in public community colleges. Involvement in the CCEL program requires coursework over approximately three years, plus a dissertation. Both the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degrees are offered, depending on the participant's choice of enrolling as a full-time or part-time student. Selection is competitive; members of underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply.

Most participants enter this graduate option as a cohort and continue through the coursework as a group. Each course for the CCEL cohort is offered on four intensive weekends during each semester, allowing full-time employees the opportunity to earn a Doctoral degree while maintaining their positions at colleges throughout the Midwest . Two courses are offered most semesters. Classes are held on the UIUC campus, and some courses are offered via the Internet in part or in total.

The cohort model fosters the construction of a network of relationships among future and current leaders in community colleges in Illinois and across the nation. This network has proved to provide a web of collective knowledge and experience that supports CCELP participants and encourages graduates to continue to develop their leadership training as they mentor others. Participants are also invited to attend the Community College Leadership Retreat held at Allerton Park , the University's conference center in Monticello , Illinois , where faculty, students, and alums gather to explore current and emerging issues relevant to leading community colleges.

The University of Illinois is a Research 1 public institution that is ranked among the best in the world. The sixteen graduate courses required to complete the CCEL option are taught by faculty who are nationally known scholars in community college and higher education, many having held top leadership positions in universities and national associations related to the community college agenda. Their areas of expertise include community college and higher education, equity issues in higher education, education law and finance, organizational theory, instructional design including online learning, women's studies, and more.

Since 1998, three CCEL cohorts have enrolled approximately 50 doctoral students. Graduates have been successfully placed in administrative positions as president, vice-president, dean, director, and department chair in Illinois and nationally. For more information about the CCEL program, please visit the website: http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EOL/ , call 217-333-2155 , or e-mail: EOL-INFO@uiuc.edu.