Perhaps for valid reasons, the nation's educational leadership preparation programs are under scrutiny. The Wallace Foundation has written several reports, as has the Southern Regional Education Board, which make specific recommendations to reinvent traditional educational leadership programs. In response, the state of Georgia discontinued all traditional educational leadership certification programs and required universities to redesign a course of study which included a job-embedded, performance-based residency component as core. This case study details the student perspective during the first 18 months of implementation of a new performance-based Educational Specialist Degree in educational leadership at the University of West Georgia (UWG). The study employs a methodology that is mainly qualitative and includes a primary research question as to whether a performance-based leadership program that is 67% residency-based is appropriate and effective. The study includes a literature review, specific (UWG) program details, two former students' perspectives, findings, conclusions and recommendations. (Contains 14 footnotes.)