USC’s Rossier School of Education is working with an Arizona provider of cloud-based educational software to launch the school’s first doctorate degree delivered online, a Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership.

The three-year leadership program, to be offered with technology from Scottsdale-based 2U Inc., targets professionals in colleges and universities as well as in charter schools, non-profit organizations, corporations and government organizations. Classes are expected to begin in January.

The new Ed.D. degree is pending approvals from the university and Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Most of the course content is designed to be self-paced and accessible around the clock, but students also are expected to attend live weekly classes online.

“The Rossier School of Education has been a leader in using technology to scale and increase access to our programs so that we can prepare educators for maximum impact locally, nationally and globally,” Karen Symms Gallagher, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, said in a statement.

USC already offers two master’s degree programs online, one for working professionals who want to become superintendents or other school leaders, and a second aimed at mid-career executives in the global market.