Master of Arts in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education online
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Program Overview
Why our Online M.A. Educational Leadership - Higher Education stands out
As low as $13,428*
Tuition
As few as 12 months
Program Duration
36
Credit Hours
The transformative Master of Arts in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education online program from Florida Gulf Coast University is built for those who work in post-secondary and higher education and aspire to meet professional goals in college, university and technical school settings.
The Master of Arts in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education is FGCU’s flagship program, and for good reason. It immerses you into the nature and function of governing structures and decision-making processes in higher education. You will focus on the elements of academic advising, student affairs, financial aid, strategic planning, career services, curriculum development and more.
In addition to our vigorous core curriculum, you will participate in two innovative internships meant to facilitate field experiences for identifying and analyzing challenges and solutions within higher education. The online higher education master’s program from Florida Gulf Coast University exposes you to all facets of postsecondary administration, so you graduate prepared for leadership roles that offer increased responsibility.
The Florida Gulf Coast College of Education educator preparation programs are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and meet rigorous national standards for educator preparation set by CAEP.
Ranked among the "Best Online Master's in Education Programs" by U.S. News & World Report (2024)
Graduates of this online higher education master’s program will be able to:
- Expertly navigate all facets of higher education: strategic planning, financing of higher education, law and policy, curriculum development, student affairs, advising, career services, and program review
- Recognize the various organizational structures and classification of higher education institutions in the United States
- Employ a decision-making process that is based on vision, mission and improvement using facts and data
- Serve in various administrative management positions within an institution recognizing the need for collaboration, efficient and effective decision making
- Act with professionalism, integrity, fairness, and honesty in an ethical manner
- Work with community partners and stakeholders to respond to diverse community interests and needs
- Understand, respond to, and influence the personal, political, social, economic, legal, and cultural relationships in the classroom, institution, and community at large
- Expertly navigate all facets of higher education: strategic planning, financing of higher education, law and policy, curriculum development, student affairs, advising, career services, and program review
- Recognize the various organizational structures and classification of higher education institutions in the United States
- Employ a decision-making process that is based on vision, mission and improvement using facts and data
- Serve in various administrative management positions within an institution recognizing the need for collaboration, efficient and effective decision making
- Act with professionalism, integrity, fairness, and honesty in an ethical manner
- Work with community partners and stakeholders to respond to diverse community interests and needs
- Understand, respond to, and influence the personal, political, social, economic, legal, and cultural relationships in the classroom, institution, and community at large
- Expertly navigate all facets of higher education: strategic planning, financing of higher education, law and policy, curriculum development, student affairs, advising, career services, and program review
- Recognize the various organizational structures and classification of higher education institutions in the United States
- Employ a decision-making process that is based on vision, mission and improvement using facts and data
- Serve in various administrative management positions within an institution recognizing the need for collaboration, efficient and effective decision making
- Act with professionalism, integrity, fairness, and honesty in an ethical manner
- Work with community partners and stakeholders to respond to diverse community interests and needs
- Understand, respond to, and influence the personal, political, social, economic, legal, and cultural relationships in the classroom, institution, and community at large
This program prepares you for roles in areas of higher education leadership such as:
- Administrative leadership
- Admissions
- Enrollment management
- Student services
- Student financial aid
- Alumni relations
- Advising
- Administrative leadership
- Admissions
- Enrollment management
- Student services
- Student financial aid
- Alumni relations
- Advising
Also available
FGCU offers a variety of specialized education degrees. Check out all of our online education programs.
Have questions or need more information about our online programs?
Tuition
Our budget-friendly tuition can be paid as you go
The M.A. Educational Leadership, Higher Education concentration online program offers affordable, pay-by-the-course tuition. All fees are included in the total tuition.
Tuition breakdown:
$373
Per Credit Hour
As low as $13,428*
Total Tuition
| Program | Per Credit Hour | Per Course | Per Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| M.A. Ed. Leadership – Higher Education | $373 | $1,119 | $13,428 |
*Tuition is as low as $13,428. Waiver available for out-of-state tuition. Prices subject to change at any time.
Calendar
Milestones to guide your student journey
FGCU online programs are delivered in an accelerated format ideal for working professionals, conveniently featuring multiple start dates each year. Get started today!
Now enrolling:
5/18/25
Next Application Deadline
6/23/25
Start Classes
| First Starts | Program Start Date | Application Deadline | Document Deadline | Registration Deadline | Tuition Deadline | Drop/Add Deadline | Last Class Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1 | 5/5/25 | 3/30/25 | 4/16/25 | 5/4/25 | 5/9/25 | 5/7/25 | 6/21/25 |
| Summer 2 | 6/23/25 | 5/18/25 | 5/25/25 | 6/22/25 | 6/27/25 | 6/25/25 | 8/9/25 |
| Fall 1 | 8/18/25 | 7/7/25 | 7/29/25 | 8/17/25 | 8/22/25 | 8/21/25 | 10/5/25 |
| Fall 2 | 10/14/25 | 9/15/25 | 9/23/25 | 10/13/25 | 10/17/25 | 10/16/25 | 12/7/25 |
Ready to take the next step toward earning your online degree from FGCU?
Admissions
Follow our streamlined admission requirements
At FGCU, we’ve streamlined the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. Please read the requirements for this higher education master’s program online, including what additional materials you need and where you should send them. The requirements include:
Undergraduate degree
from a regionally accredited university
GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
or a graduate degree from a regionally accredited institution
Professional references
through online application
You must meet the following requirements for admission to the M.A. Educational Leadership, Higher Education concentration online program.
- Submit graduate application and $30 application fee
- Official academic transcripts from every college or university attended
- Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution
- A minimum 3.0 overall GPA on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester hours accrued to the undergraduate degree OR a graduate degree from a regionally accredited institution
- An in-person, phone or virtual interview if GPA is below 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
- Two letters of recommendation from either working professionals in the field, a current or previous supervisor, or an academic advisor
- A letter of intent from the applicant that spells out their reasons for wanting to enter the program and a list of a perceived set of skills and dispositions
- For international students: a TOEFL exam with a minimum score of 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based) or 79 (internet-based)
Performance in courses taken in other graduate degrees and/or non-degree seeking post-baccalaureates will be taken into consideration for admission.
Official transcripts, test scores and other documents should be sent from the granting institutions to:
Email address: [email protected]
Mailing address:
10501 FGCU Blvd. SouthFort Myers, FL 33965-6565
FGCU is ranked #7 (tie) among the “Most Innovative Schools, Regional Universities South” by U.S. News & World Report (2022)
Courses
The topics you’ll study in our higher education master’s program classes
For the M.A. Educational Leadership, Higher Education concentration online program, you must complete 36 credit hours, which includes two internships (300 hours total).
EDH 6635: Organizational Structures Higher Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course emphasizes the nature and function of governing structures, the basic frameworks for organizational analysis, and the role of leadership in the decision making process in higher education.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will:
- Recognize that high performing leaders have a personal vision for their institution and the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop, articulate, and implement a shared vision that is supported by the governing body and the community.
- Understand the different administrative structures within higher education.
- Be able to identify different classifications and types of institutions of higher education.
- Recognize characteristics of different classifications and types of institutions of higher education.
- Understand governance structures of institutions of higher education.
- Be able to distinguish trends and events in the shaping of American higher education.
- Understand how history and related current events significantly impact the shaping of American higher education.
EDH 6505: Finance in Higher Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course focuses on the elements of budgeting, financial statements, investment strategies, fund raising, debt management and how an institution's strategic plan guides financial decision making.
Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will be able to:
- Understand the various funding sources for higher education at different types of institutions.
- Recognize the various external mandates impacting the financing of higher education.
- Understand the impact of political and regulatory environments impacting higher education.
- Understand various revenue and resource streams impacting higher education.
- Recognize expenses associated with institutions of higher education.
- Understand budget planning, budget cycles, and budget flexibility and recognize how institutional policy impacts budgeting.
- Understand methods of responding to extraordinary financial circumstances.
- Understand the importance of an institution utilizing an effective, integrative, and broad-based planning process for institutional budgeting.
EDH 6225: Curriculum Development Higher Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Emphasis on curriculum perspectives, procedures, and practices in higher education; principles of curriculum and instruction in higher education; theory and practices in goal setting, curriculum planning, instructional improvement, and curriculum design.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, learners will:
- Recognize the need to promote institutional programs composed of core knowledge and content that bridges practice to theory.
- Understand the history of higher education and curriculum development practices in the United States.
- Understand how statutes, regulations, guidelines, and stakeholders (external to the college/university) influence higher education curriculum.
- Recognize how college/university (internal) policies, guidelines, procedures, practices, and stakeholders influence higher education curriculum.
- Understand the impact of using assessments that include direct and indirect evaluation and use of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to determine whether and to what degree that stated mission, goals, and intended outcomes are being met as effectively and efficiently as possible.
EDH 6044: Career Development
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course deals with career development process throughout the lifespan, with an emphasis on implications for student affairs, higher education, and academic advising. Topics covered include career development theories, career assessment instruments, professional resources, decision making models, and factors inherent to the career development process; evolving economic, political, social, and technological conditions.
Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will have:
- An understanding of significant career development theories and decision-making models, and the ability to use relevant theories and models when thinking about their own career and professional development and when working with other individuals and students.
- An ability to integrate and critically examine and reflect on important changes in a career lifespan (e.g., supervision, mid-career, new roles, etc.).
- An understanding of the interrelationships among and between work, family and other life roles and factors, including the role of diversity, gender, and special populations in career development, and the ability to integrate this understanding into career development thinking, their own professional development, and their work with students in higher education.
- An understanding of the interconnectedness of career development and success in higher education (academic, professional, personal, etc.), and how to apply the skills used in both to assist individuals, teams, and students in higher education.
- An understanding of assessment instruments and techniques relevant to career planning and decision making, and the ability to utilize these instruments to make appropriate career development decisions.
EDH 6405: Law & Policy Higher Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Analysis of law, policies, and political impacts in American Higher Education with applications to Florida public and non-public institutions. Participants develop a topic for further research, evaluation, problem solving, and presentation.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, the learner will:
- Recognize the landscape of law and policy as it pertains to higher education, including concerns, issues, and problems.
- Access, analyze, and reflect on various laws and policies in higher education through different lenses, understanding the complex nature of how law and policy intersect.
- Begin to critically examine how law informs policy and practice in higher education from the perspective of different constituents (e.g., administrators, students, faculty, etc.).
- Utilize the study of law and policy in higher education in their own practice and actions to make sound ethical decisions impacting a variety of stakeholders.
- Create and maintain an educational and work environment that is welcoming, accessible, and inclusive to persons of diverse backgrounds.
- Establish and sustain an educational and work environment that is equitable, non-discriminatory, and free from harassment.
EDH 6634: Student Personnel Services Higher Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course uses a topical/survey approach to discuss the major student personnel service functions of divisions of student affairs found on college campuses.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, the learner will:
- Understand that the organization, structure, and quality of student personnel services should function collaboratively with the mission of the institution to bring about optimum student experiences and outcomes.
- Recognize that high performing student personnel services leaders initiate, advocate, and support continuous assessment and improvement based on outcomes in order to enhance students' success and well-being.
- Recognize the complex nature of student personnel services and be able to utilize their knowledge to enhance enrollment services, campus life and climate.
- Understand that strong and collaborative leadership of student personnel services administrators creates effective instructional partnerships, an inclusive climate, and a stronger learning community.
EDF 6401: Data and Analysis in Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Theory and application of statistical procedures to problems in education: descriptive statistics, probability sampling, inferential statistics, interpretation of results, and introduction to computer programming for statistical analysis.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of statistical terms and differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
- Identify measurement scales of variables.
- Summarize data using measures of central tendency and measures of variation.
- Describe and interpret data using appropriate techniques.
- Identify distributional shapes and attributes.
- Apply, calculate, and interpret several univariate statistical procedures.
- Identify a correct statistical procedure based on real research questions.
EDF 6808: Global Context in Higher Education
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the student to higher education in a global context. The students will examine trends in higher education in the global context, compare education systems, identify internationally framed higher education collaborations and partnerships, and explore innovative curriculum models and multi-national student learning experiences.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will:
- Be familiar with differences and similarities in higher education systems both inside and outside the United States
- Understand the impact of fostering communication that deepens understanding of identity, culture, self-expression, and heritage.
- Recognize the impact of a changing world in terms of technological advancement, access, and trends.
- Recognize the influence of personal, political, economic, legal, and cultural relationships pertaining to global education.
- Recognize the importance of creating an educational work environment that is welcoming, accessible, and inclusive to persons of diverse backgrounds.
- Be able to identify educational environments that are equitable, nondiscriminatory, and free from harassment.
- Recognize diversity as an asset in the development and implementation of procedures and practices that motivate all students and improve student learning.
EDH 6045: Student Development Theory
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is intended to provide an understanding of the various theories that inform college student development in higher education. It is intended for graduate students to learn about a range of human development theories that have described and informed how individuals learn, develop, and grow during their undergraduate college years. It is also designed to give students a thorough understanding of "who" the current college students are in terms of individual and collective characteristics. Students will also review and discuss contemporary issues and trends related to providing services to various types of students.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of theories and models of the development of college students.
- Outcome: Students will be able to list and explain major college student development theories.
- Possess knowledge of various student identities.
- Outcome: Students will be able to describe various student identities and sub-identities.
- Be able to apply college student development theories and best practices to higher education institutions.
- Outcome: Describe the connection between organizations and how higher education institutions can facilitate student development.
- Be able to examine and identify issues that impact student engagement and academic success.
- Outcome: Students will be able to understand how issues affecting their students can impact engagement and success in higher education and apply possible solutions in their own practice.
- Appreciate the diverse nature of contemporary college students and the tremendous educational and societal advantage this causes.
- Outcome: Able to articulate, through various delivery methods, information and impact of different groups of college students and how their experience, learning, and success varies in higher education.
EDH 6057: Discovering Higher Ed Research
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to develop student abilities to discover, identify, assess, use, and write about the scholarly and professional literature of higher education. The course will advance knowledge and skills that support decision making strategies and how high performing leaders plan effectively, use critical thinking and problem solving techniques, and collect and analyze data for continuous institutional improvement.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:
- Identify appropriate information sources and ascertain whether sources are scholarly or professional publications.
- Create effective literature search strategies.
- Evaluate information sources critically.
- Summarize and synthesize the literature, as well as apply APA formatting.
- Access and use information sources ethically and legally.
EDA 6945: Internship I Educational Leadership
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Field experiences in school systems for identifying and analyzing educational problems and their solutions. Restricted to admitted students who have successfully completed at least 30 semester hours of their coursework. Permission of faculty in Educational Leadership required.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be prepared to:
- Describe a department/program within a college or university in relation to institutional culture, organization and governance, mission and goals, and long-term and daily functions.
- Reflect on the internship experience, the core values and philosophy of educational leadership, and the student’s personal philosophy of educational leadership and/or student affairs.
- Apply theoretical and conceptual information gained in other coursework to understand and analyze current issues impacting educational leadership in a higher education internship setting and the profession at large.
- Plan a comprehensive approach to continued professional development.
EDA 6946: Internship II Educational Leadership
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Second of two field experiences in school systems for identifying and analyzing educational problems and their solutions. Restricted to admitted students who have successfully completed at least 30 semester hours of their coursework and EDA 6945.
Prerequisite(s) EDA 6945 for level Graduate with minimum grade of B
Learning Outcomes
Students who complete this course will be able to:
- Describe a department/program within a college or university in relation to institutional culture, organization and governance, mission and goals, and long-term and daily functions.
- Reflect on the internship experience, the core values and philosophy of educational leadership, and the student’s personal philosophy of educational leadership and/or student affairs.
- Apply theoretical and conceptual information gained in other coursework to understand and analyze current issues impacting educational leadership in a higher education internship setting and the profession at large.
- Plan a comprehensive approach to continued professional development.
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