Master of Arts in Higher Education and Doctor of Education

For more information about the master’s degree in Higher Education or the doctorate in Higher Education, visit the program’s website.

Master of Arts

The Master of Arts in Higher Education is designed for those individuals who are interested in entering or expanding their potential for attaining leadership positions in the field of higher education. Students choose from one of the concentration areas:

1. College Student Affairs
2. Two-Year College Teaching
3. Health Professions

College Student Affairs Concentration

The College Student Affairs concentration is designed for individuals who have special interest in college students and the higher education environments that affect their development. In addition, this program enables working professionals to increase their skills, knowledge, and abilities to compete for professional positions of increasing responsibility and scope. Program graduates are prepared to assume a wide range of administrative and professional roles in the fields of student life and student services.

The Two-Year College Teaching Concentration

The Two-Year College Teaching concentration is designed for those who are currently employed as faculty members in two-year colleges or those who aspire to such positions. It includes a minimum of 18 graduate hours in the teaching cognate field plus other required and elective courses that allow students to develop stronger faculty expertise.

Health Professions Concentration

The Health Professions concentration will provide the conceptual framework and skills for graduates to engage in the scholarship of teaching as related to the education of current and future pharmacists, physicians, nurses, health related professionals, and public health workers in Arkansas. Using an interdisciplinary combination of resources from the UALR Higher Education graduate program and UAMS as a nationally recognized academic health center within close proximity, students will learn to deliver high-quality health professions education and gain practical experience to link empirical research and evidence-based decision making to design more effective instructional practices and measure student learning.

Doctor of Education

UALR’s doctoral program in higher education (HIED) prepares students for a wide range of administrative and teaching roles in institutions of higher education. In addition to providing the necessary professional skills and knowledge, the faculty seeks to facilitate the development of students’ leadership potential and to inspire commitment and dedication to the field of higher and post-secondary education.

For more information about the master’s degrees in Higher education or the doctorate in higher education, visit the program’s website.

Master of Arts in Higher Education (all concentrations)

Admission Requirements

• Graduate Record Exam score of at least 800 (old GRE Score) / 286 (new GRE score verbal and quantitative scores combined), 146 verbal and 140 quantitative or 3.0 writing, or Miller Analogies Test score of at least 396. Tests must be taken within the last 5 years.
• Original transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended reflecting an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• Biographical Data Form.
• A two-page, typed and double-spaced explanation of the reasons for applying to the program and the goals the student expects to achieve.
• An interview with at least one faculty member from the program resulting in a favorable recommendation from that faculty member.

If a student receives a graduate assistantship, then they will be given regular admission to the M.A. Higher Education program.

Conditional Admission

Candidates who have at least an overall GPA of 2.5 but only one criterion achieved (the required test score or required GPA) may present a profile demonstrating progressively successful professional development experience beyond the bachelor’s degree and successfully complete the interview with the program faculty to be admitted conditionally to the program. Upon successful completion of six hours, the student may receive regular admission to the program.

Thesis or Project Committees

Students who elect the Academic Thesis or Applied Research Project options must select a supervising committee consisting of three people to oversee and approve their thesis or project work. The committee must consist of one of the following:

• One member as chair who is a member of the Higher Education Program faculty;
• One member from the faculty of the College of Education who is not a member of the Higher Education Program faculty;
• One faculty member from outside the College of Education and Health Professions.

Transfer Courses

In some cases, students may wish to include in their programs a teaching cognate that is not offered by UALR. In those cases, it may be possible for students to earn those hours at another university where the cognate is offered and transfer them to UALR. Students may transfer as many as one-half of the classes required in the M.A. program. This means that no more than 18 of the 36 hours required for the program may be transferred from another university.

In order to transfer courses to UALR, grades of A or B must have been earned at a regionally accredited university. If the hours in the teaching cognate field were earned more than five years prior to enrolling in the UALR program, students are required to complete at least six additional hours in the cognate as part of the MA program.

Program Requirements

Students admitted to the program must complete 36 semester hours of graduate course work. Included will be at least 18 hours in the teaching cognate field, 12 hours in the program core, and six hours of elective courses selected in consultation with the faculty advisor. Students have three options for completing the degree:

1. Complete 36 hours of class work and a written comprehensive examination after class work has been completed or in the final semester of class work. The comprehensive examination consists of questions from the teaching cognate field and from the required courses in the program core;
2. Complete 36 hours of class work and six hours of academic thesis credit on an approved topic; or
3. Complete 36 hours of class work and six hours of applied research project credit on an approved topic.

Total program hours: 36