Credential Inflation and the Professional Doctorate in California Higher Education, by Thomas J. La Belle

The article argues that the time has come to change California’s 1960 Master Plan for higher education by permitting the California State University (CSU) to award the doctorate in selected professional programs. The article also addresses the inadequacies of the joint doctorate as the means to remedy degree or credential creep; the CSU’s focus on securing permission to grant the Ed.D. rather than other professional doctoral degrees; and the dominant role played in the State by the CSU relative to the UC in master’s level education. Subsequently, the article considers why degree and credential creep occurs and explanations for the changes going on in physical therapy and audiology; and it explores other fields where degree changes are in flux.