In addition, those entering in the fall can compete for a limited number of places in a
. See the
Each track toward the master’s degree requires 15 units of credit, including core courses and electives, a master’s project and an
* of at least one quarter. Core requirements include courses on college student development, budgeting and finance, policy, law and ethics, learning and teaching, history and philosophy, social contexts of education, and research and analysis. Sample elective courses include management in nonprofit organizations, sociology of organizations, career psychology, education and the changing workplace, and statistics, which is strongly recommended.
| MS_ED 402 |
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Social Contexts of Education
This course examines how social contexts such as families, schools and the workplace shape individuals; as well as how individuals' intellectual and interpersonal capacities, preferences, and goals are shaped by their social contexts. This course also examines the societal structures that organize, supply, and channel individual learning experiences and how they provide the formal and informal settings in which social interaction takes place. Students will also explore how participation in these socializing settings molds the development of individuals' capacities and forms their goals.
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| MS_ED 405 |
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Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
This course addresses the issue of learning. What is learning in higher education and what challenges does it pose to teaching? How can teaching respond? Students will examine different models and theories of learning, recent research on student conceptions of and approaches to learning, the impact of learning on faculty understanding and approaches to teaching.
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| MS_ED 406 |
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Research and Analysis in Teaching and Learning I: Discussion and Question Development
The course aims to help students meet three goals that will advance the progress of the Master's Project and, at the same time, develop skills of questioning and discussion that are useful in many teaching-learning contexts. The three goals include: the formation of a question which the Master's Project will address; a description of the rationale for the question; and the start of a literature review on the topic. In order to meet the goals, students will develop questions about the meaning of texts, refine these through small-group discussion, and develop skills of effective discussion participation and leading, including preparation for discussion. Taken together, these skills permit not only the cultivation of meaningful questions but progress toward their resolution, as they develop habits of careful reading and reflection. Texts for the course will include classic works related to discussion and questioning and the domain of the Master's Project. Each student will lead a discussion on a text germane to the question chosen for the Master's Project.
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| MS_ED 407 |
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Research and Analysis in Teaching and Learning II: Literature Review and Methodology
This class is a forum in which to investigate the paradigms and approaches to educational research that participants can utilize in their Master's Projects. Participants discuss and refine their research questions and examine methods of data collection within the framework of research plans they design for their projects. Teacher research and action research are particularly emphasized for practitioner researchers. Participants investigate criteria used to evaluate research relevant to education and experience peer review of their own research.
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| MS_ED 408 |
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Research and Analysis in Teaching and Learning III: Analysis, Interpretation, and Dissemination
This course helps students refine the reflective skills required of educators in complex social institutions such as schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations and develop effective problem-identification and -solving approaches. Intensive analysis and discussion of questions encountered in elementary and secondary schools, administrative, higher education, and corporate settings. Students present their Master's Project in this course.
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| MS_ED 451 |
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Special Topics in Higher Education: Evaluation in Higher Education
This course will focus on three major areas that are driving the current evaluation and assessment movement in higher education: institutional performance; teaching and learning; and student learning and development. In doing so, this course will provide students with theoretical frameworks for understanding evaluation as well as the necessary quantitative and qualitative tools to design and provide valid and reliable empirically-based evidence. Throughout the examination of each of these levels of institutional performance, the course will also focus on how such evidence is used to evaluate and inform institutional policy as well as strategies for continuous improvement.
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| MS_ED 460 |
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Proseminar in Higher Education
Class discussion concentrates on current and ongoing issues in the American postsecondary educational system. Students are introduced to areas of professional endeavor within the field (enrollment management, student affairs, etc.), explore major sources of information about various areas of higher-education administration, and have the opportunity to meet higher-education professionals.
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| MS_ED 462 |
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The College Student
This class examines student development research and discusses how students in undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools change intellectually, morally, ethically, emotionally and socially as a result of their classroom and non-classroom experiences. Practical applications and issues for enhancing the effectiveness of college and university programs are also addressed.
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| MS_ED 465 |
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Law and Ethics in Higher Education
In this course legal professionals guide students through the legal and ethical issues associated with higher education administration. This includes applying both dimensions to the daily work of higher education administration.
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| MS_ED 466 |
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Budgeting and Finance in Higher Education
This course will comprehensively address the budget process in colleges and universities, as well as the impact of budget activities on all areas of planning and operations within an institution. Students will develop and enhance their abilities to write and speak effectively about budget and finance-related issues.
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| MS_ED 467 |
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History & Philosophy of Higher Education
This course will survey and assess the evolution of American Higher Education from the founding of Harvard College to present patterns of virtual and distance learning. Historical and institutional contexts for this development include consideration of the role of religion, government and the private sector in shaping the demand and provision of elite and accessible forms of higher education opportunity.
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| MS_ED 468 |
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Higher Education Policy
This course examines concepts, models, and theories about public policy and the federal policy process with regard to areas of major importance to higher education (e.g., student aid, taxes, research, and affirmative action). Current policy issues are analyzed in comparison with past executive, legislative, and judicial branch actions in those policy arenas. The course is designed to provide a basic understanding of higher education policy in the U.S. at the national level. MS_ED 460 is a prerequisite for this course.
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| MS_ED 484 |
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Higher Education Administration Seminar
This seminar gives a context for the higher education work experience of graduate students in the master's program through an examination of theory and research on organization and governance, management, leadership, and ethics. This seminar should be taken concurrently with or after the research sequence MS_ED 406, 407, and 408.
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| MS_ED 485 |
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Higher Education Internship
Internships help students develop skills essential for successful administration, including the use of theoretical knowledge to inform professional practice and the cultivation of questions rooted in practice to illuminate the meaning of theory.
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