Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership M.A.
UNC’s Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership (HESAL) program offers a Master’s of Arts (M.A.). Our curriculum focuses on developing core competencies necessary for professional advancement in higher education and student affairs, including student support services, academic careers, and policy work. Students have opportunities to work directly with award-winning, research faculty who all have higher education or student affairs administrative backgrounds. The HESAL faculty are dedicated to offering a program that values a practitioner-scholar model, mentoring and advising, and coursework that reflect theory, research, and practice. The HESAL program maintains a commitment to equity and social justice through the inclusion of multiple perspectives and pedagogies.
Degree Options
M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership
We offer a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education and Students Affairs Leadership.
Master of Arts
Emphasizing practice, the 36-credit master’s program prepares student affairs professionals and college administrators. You’ll work as colleagues with faculty, gaining progressively higher levels of responsibility and expertise, in a community-of-scholars model to learning. As a graduate, you’ll be uniquely qualified to tackle the complex challenges facing educators today.
Doctoral Minor
Our 15-credit doctoral minor allows you to gain an extra level of expertise in higher education and student affairs.
Related Programs
Your Future in Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership
At UNC, you’re following in the footsteps of Colorado’s top educators. Our master’s program will position you to excel in a wide range of leadership positions in higher education, and will give you a broader, multicultural perspective that will serve you in your career and in life.
Consider UNC’s Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership programs if you:
- Have a strong dedication to social justice
- Desire to work with diverse groups of people to lead positive change in higher education
- Want to gain multicultural perspectives
- Are a full- or part-time student
You’ll learn:
- Strong understanding of organizational dynamics
- Excellence in professional practice and scholarly writing
- Culturally inclusive perspectives related to research, practice and leadership
- Research design and methodology
- Ways to contribute to improving education systems
Sample courses:
- Organization and Administration
- Multiculturalism in Higher Education and Student Affairs
- Law and Higher Education
- Culturally Responsive Aspects of Transformative Learning
- Women in Higher Education and Student Affairs
- Finance and Resource Management in Higher Education
Where can your degree take you?
The master’s program in Higher Education and Students Affairs Leadership will prepare you to lead in a variety of roles. These are just a few of your options:
- Higher education administrator
- Student affairs leader
- Institutional researcher
- Policy analyst
- University faculty member
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Still not completely sold? We understand. Here's more information on costs and funding and how to apply.
