Higher Education Administrator outside of a college campus

Online Master's Degree MS in Higher Education Administration

Lead the Future of Higher Education with a Master’s in Higher Education Administration

65% of all jobs in the U.S. will require post-secondary education by 2020, according to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce.* The increased demand from employers for degree-holding professionals is putting new pressure on colleges and universities. Shifts in student demographics, learning technology, complex policy and public scrutiny are increasing the need for innovative, fiscally responsible leaders who can balance student demands with organizational needs.

Southern New Hampshire University's Master of Science in Higher Education Administration prepares you for the enterprise of higher education and the complex challenges that go along with it. Learn how strategic leadership, a student success culture and data-driven resource management can advance colleges and universities in the 21st century. These essential skills will prepare you to guide innovation, address institutional needs and shape the higher education conversation.

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See Yourself Succeed in Higher Education Administration

Southern New Hampshire University's master's in higher education administration program was shaped by people who are passionate about advancing higher education. The only school named to Fast Company magazine's World's Most Innovative Companies list in 2012, SNHU takes its experiences as one of the nation's fastest-growing online universities and combines them with insights from other innovative institutions. Institutional oversight, functional area leadership and management professionals collaborated on a curriculum that pushes educators to meet student and organizational challenges head-on. This is more than a best practices degree - this is a program that expands the boundaries of higher education success.

This MS online degree program will help you develop into an informed leader who understands how to move an agenda forward amidst the conflicting pressures and perspectives of the higher education industry. You'll obtain a keen sense of the role higher education has in enriching the wider community and the obligation administrators have to support and nurture it. Specifically, you'll learn how to:

  • Design, develop and implement innovative strategies based on empirically derived data and research to address the challenges facing higher education that further an institution's mission, vision and goals
  • Apply empirical research methodologies to evaluate program effectiveness that address underrepresented needs of the increasingly diverse college student population
  • Critically evaluate the historic and social context of higher education for its reciprocity between institutional, local and national policy
  • Utilize compliance, regulatory and accreditation standards to inform institutional decision-making
  • Apply strategies for facilitating effective communication, collaboration and data-based continuous improvement as an administrator across institutional units
  • Apply empirically based financial management skills related to budgeting, resource allocation and funding to support an institution's strategic goals

As a private, nonprofit university, SNHU has one mission - to help you see yourself succeed. The benefits of earning your master's in higher education administration online at SNHU include:

  • Affordability. Take advantage of some of the most affordable tuition rates in the nation
  • Convenience. Attend class when it's convenient for you - online education means 24/7 access
  • Efficiency and flexibility. Complete your graduate degree in as few as 15 months, with two courses per 10-week term
  • Expert instruction. Learn from instructors with relevant, real-world experience
  • Minimal requirements. No GMAT or GRE required for admission
  • Networking. Tap into our nationwide network of alumni for tips and career opportunities
  • Student support. Count on the ongoing support of dedicated academic and career advisors specialized in your area of study

Admission Requirements

Acceptance decisions are made on a rolling basis throughout the year for our 5 graduate terms. You can apply at any time and get a decision within days of submitting all required materials. To apply, simply contact an admission counselor, who can help you explore financial options. Your counselor can also walk you through the application process, which involves completing a graduate application ($40 fee) and providing undergraduate transcripts.

Career Outlook

In 2014, there were more than 20 million students enrolled in degree-granting institutions in the U.S. That number is projected to top 23 million by 2024, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.** The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts jobs in higher education administration will increase 10% through 2026.***

  • Academic affairs
  • Student affairs
  • Distance learning
  • Student recruitment and retention
  • Diversity management
  • Registrar's office
  • Faculty development
  • Institutional research
  • Finance
  • Human resources
  • Institutional advancement
  • Marketing

Curriculum

In the 36-credit online degree program, you'll learn the communication, leadership, organization and technical skills required of today's leaders in higher education. You'll gain deep insight into the history and theory that have shaped higher learning in the United States.

View Full Curriculum in the Catalog
MS in Higher Education Administration

Courses May Include
HEA 510 Philosophy and History of Higher Education

Candidates seeking to become degreed higher education administrators must first understand the historical, philosophical, and social influences that have built America's concept of higher education and articulate their own personal philosophy of higher education. Emphasis will be placed on the reciprocal relationship between higher education models and their socio-historical contexts.
HEA 520 Contemporary Issues in Higher Education

Through the use of contextualized cases representative of the technological, demographic, and intellectual shifts that have influenced higher education's evolving role in the twenty-first century, candidates will examine the issues facing higher education today and link their judgments to historical foundations. Candidates will create alignments between current issues in higher education and how they influence the twenty-first-century student.
HEA 530 Data-Driven Decision-Making in Higher Education

This course will further candidates' ability to methodically apply empirically based, data-centric approaches to inform institutional decision making across multiple university sectors. Through contextualized, authentic experiences, candidates will analyze, evaluate, and assess programs using contemporary technologies and develop evidence-based approaches to meet desired outcomes. Candidates will be required to justify the empirically based process by which they reached their programmatic decisions. Specific modes of inquiry driving this course will be strongly represented in subsequent course work.

HEA 540 Program Evaluation

This course will explore the theories and processes of higher education program evaluation. Candidates will - within the context of a university's mission, strategic goals, and objectives - learn necessary skills to methodically evaluate higher education programs. Candidates will analyze given sets of case-based data and offer evidence and research based justifications for programmatic changes. Project management concepts and tools will be applied throughout the course.
HEA 550 Higher Education Law and Regulation

With an examination of the key laws, policies, and concepts specific to higher education in the United States, candidates will gain a sense of higher education law's complexity and how law has assumed a greater role in establishing patterns, modes of conduct, and equitable procedures in an attempt to assure the rights and responsibilities of administrators, faculty members, staff, and students in the institutional context.

HEA 610 Enrollment Management and Marketing

This course will address the data-centric enrollment management process within higher education, including how to attract, admit, and retain students. Candidates will examine the tools for effective admissions marketing, predicting admissions yields, and assessing how financial aid influences enrollment behavior. Candidates will gain the evidence-based skills necessary to understand the tactics for successful onboarding and continued retention of students, as well as the structures and approaches aimed at improving student achievement and persistence.
HEA 620 Budget and Financial Management in Higher Education

This course will require candidates to empirically make sense of quantitative data sets related to financial management of an institution. Candidates will manipulate tuition and fee revenue models and make justifiable, quantitatively-based budgetary decisions regarding how those decisions map onto given institution's strategic initiatives and mission. Through the use of fiscal management models, candidates will how account for how government appropriations, financial aid regulations, large grants, and investment income influence these decisions.

HEA 630 Leading Change in Higher Education

This course explores the responsibility of innovative - and accountable - change agents who must manage institutional responses to major external or internal forces. Candidates will consider how to apply empirical data and quality improvement principles to planning. Candidates will demonstrate how strategic approaches may be applied to successful navigation of individual, collaborative, and organizational structures. Through the examination of effective communication strategies, consensus building, and negotiation candidates will focus on creative problem solving through innovative approaches and models related to the administration of institutions of higher education in the 21st century.
HEA 690 Capstone in Higher Education

This capstone course is the culminating experience for the M.S. in Higher Education Administration program. The aim of the capstone is to assess students' ability to synthesize and integrate the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout their coursework, rather than introducing new concepts. This course is structured to support student success in fulfilling program requirements.

Total Credits: 36

Program Outcomes

Tuition & Fees

Tuition rates for SNHU's online degree programs are among the lowest in the nation. We offer a 25% tuition discount for U.S. service members, both full and part time, and the spouses of those on active duty.

Online Graduate Programs Per Course* Per Credit Hour*
Degree/Certificates $1,881 $627
Degree/Certificates
(U.S. service members, both full and part time, and the spouses of those on active duty) 		$1,410 $470

*Tuition Rates are subject to change and are reviewed Annually.

Additional Costs:
$40 Application Fee, $150 Graduation Fee, Course Materials ($ varies by course)

University Accreditation

Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit institution accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education as well as several other accrediting bodies. More...

*Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, "Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements through 2020," on the internet, at https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Recovery2020.ES_.Web_.pdf

**National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, on the Internet at https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_105.20.asp?current=yes (viewed online Dec. 13, 2017).

***Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, on the Internet at BLS https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/postsecondary-education-administrators.htm (viewed online Dec. 13, 2017). Cited projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth.