The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of doctoral students in a western Canadian university about the doctoral programs offered in the Faculty of Education. The research for the study was undertaken using a mixed-method explanatory design. Our initial research question was: "what are some of the factors that doctoral students in Education perceive to be significant in their PhD experience?" In answer to this question we gathered data from both online surveys and individual interviews. The survey sought to find out doctoral students perceptions of cohorts in terms of emotional and/or professional support; the amount of out of class socialization among cohorts; the opportunity to work collaboratively with their peers; and, what they saw as the traits a PhD student in the faculty needed to possess to be successful. Six doctoral students were individually interviewed, three who were in a cohort, and three who were not in a cohort to gather further information about their personal experiences. The perceptions of doctoral students in the Faculty of Education, at the University of Manitoba, can be looked at in two contexts: the factors that students identified as working well in the program, and the factors that needed some attention. The factors that were working well, and thus were identified as being positive aspects of the doctoral program include: supportive faculty including, but not limited to, committee members; belonging to a cohort for both emotional and professional support; bi-monthly doctoral student meetings with the Associate Dean in charge of graduate students; and, the opportunity to become a participant in the scholarly community that was part of the Faculty of Education.