The purpose of this study was to determine how resilience factors impact doctoral degree completion after a significant delay of one year or more. The non-completion of doctoral degrees has been a concern due to its economic, social, and personal consequences. The research questions being examined were: (1) What were the various reasons shared by educational leadership doctoral students at two Texas public, four-year postsecondary institutions for the one year or more delay(s) in their respective doctoral dissertation construction efforts? (2) What were the various resilience factors identified by educational leadership doctoral students at two Texas public, four-year postsecondary institutions that enabled them to overcome the one year or more delay(s) in their respective doctoral dissertation construction efforts to subsequently complete their respective doctoral dissertations and graduate? Study participants are graduates from one of two Texas public, four-year postsecondary institutions who completed their doctoral program between 2017-2023 after experiencing a one year or longer delay in completion. Key factors of resilience that were examined were what type of tools doctoral graduates had used to get them re-engaged into their dissertation and ultimately to graduation. Data was calculated using one on one interviews between the researcher and the voluntary study participants. Analyses were conducted using the six-step process for analyzing data from a phenomenological background as described by Creswell to determine if there were any recurring factors in the areas of traumatic events, perceived stress, stress management, or emotional intelligence. Results of this study will support a model of resilience factors based on doctoral graduate perceived capabilities, experiences, resources, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Recommendations for future research on resilience in doctoral students are included in this paper. In this study, the researcher investigated factors of resilience of doctoral students in completing their doctoral degrees by utilizing an interview process. The qualitative data was collected using one-on-one conversations led by a series of questions. An analysis revealed three recurring themes: social, personal, and educational. Implications of the findings are discussed in detail. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]