Higher Education Certificate

Program Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Administration is designed to address the need for enhanced understanding of the higher education institutional context and for improved skills in areas required for effective administration of the higher education administration and governance and some technical knowledge about various aspects of administration (i.e., budget and finance, higher education law).

As a stand-alone certificate program it is available to all non-degree-seeking graduate students. Students may also apply the 12 hours of credit earned for this graduate certificate to the MEd or PhD in Higher Education upon admission to one of these degree programs. Courses required for the proposed certificate are existing courses offered in the master's and doctoral programs. The student objectives of the certificate program are as following:

• To gain an understanding of the unique organizational features of higher education institutions and their governance.
• To achieve an understanding of relevant federal and state financial policies and their impact on the operation of higher education institutions.
• To gain or enhance understanding and skills in an area of particular relevance to the administrative practice of the student (e.g., program planning for continuing educators, student affairs administration for student affairs professionals, the community college for community college administrators).

Program Characteristics

The Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Administration draws upon the existing resources of established courses and current faculty. The participating faculty members will share the advising responsibility for certificate students, each of whom will be assigned a faculty advisor.

Sequence of Courses 

* Required Courses (Six hours/two courses)

ED LPA 9450: Administration and Governance of Higher and Continuing Education
Principles of administration and structures of governance of higher and continuing education. Topics include internal and external governance, institutional differences in governance, governmental influences, and models of organizational functioning.

ED LPA 9451: Higher Education Finance
Fiscal planning and management in higher and continuing education. Topics include budgeting, financial planning, fiscal management, state and federal policy influences, and fiscal management's relation to other administrative functions.

 *Two Elective Course (Six hours/two courses)

ED LPA 9408: Seminar in Higher and Continuing Education - Higher Education Policy
An overview of current higher education policy issues facing governmental bodies and institutions. Emphasis  is placed on investigating both policy-making and policy-evaluation processes through multiple theoretical lenses. Specific topics explored include access, equity, and accountability within the higher education setting.

ED LPA 9440: Race, Gender, Ethnicity in Higher Education (same as Women’s and Gender Studies 9440)
Historical and current issues of race, gender, and ethnicity in colleges and universities in the U.S.  Issues include: students, faculty, and staff experiences of diversity, access and equity, and salience of diversity in a higher education setting.

ED LPA 9444: Program Planning in HACE
Analysis of program planning and evaluation in higher and continuing education. Topics include: conceptualization of program planning, situational analysis, needs assessment, priority setting, marketing and promotion, and program evaluation models.                                    

ED LPA 9454:  Introduction to Postsecondary Law
Examination of the legal structure within which higher education operates. Includes consideration of legal analysis of case law, institutional responsibilities under the law, and analysis of legal issues within postsecondary education.
                                             

ED LPA 9445: College Student Development
Emphasis on college student development theory and its application in student affairs work.  

ED LPA 9446: Student Affairs Administration
History, philosophy, theory, and issues pertinent to student affairs work. 

ED LPA 9447: College Student Culture and Environment
A study of the American college student and aspects of the college environment that impact students. Topics include student development, college outcomes, returning adult and commuter students, and aspects of the college environment. 

ED LPA 9452: Overview of Higher Education
This course provides an overview of American Higher education. Emphasis is placed on how these institutions currently operate and what issues dominate current discussion of academe. 

ED LPA 9455: The Community College
An overview of the community college. Topics include historical roots and development of the community college, organization and governance, finance, students, faculty, administrators, curriculum, social role, and recurring and emerging issues.

Other Information

For more information about this program contact the ELPA Department by phone at 573-882-8221 or by e-mail at elpagrad@missouri.edu

For a Graduate School Application Please Apply Here. As part of the application process, we require copies of academic transcripts.