Master's Degrees

The Program in Higher Education offers a 36-semester hour (minimum) Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree and a 39-semester hour (minimum) Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Higher Education. In the master’s degree, a student may specialize in one of five tracks: Adult Education, Advancement, Community College Administration, General Administration and Student Affairs. The Student Affairs track complies with the Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) for the administration emphasis for master's degree programs in student services administration.

The M.Ed. program includes 18 semester hours in Higher Education Core courses, 3 semester hours in Educational Research, 6 semester hours in internship, and 9 semester hours in one of the five specialty tracks.

The M.S. program requires all of the above plus an additional 3 semester hours in Educational Research and a passing grade on a written comprehensive examination.

The degree programs are designed to prepare students for entry level and mid-management level positions at public and private two-year and four-year institutions. Persons who complete the master's degree program are usually eligible for positions in residence life, student housing, career centers, diversity centers, student unions, advancement offices, alumni offices, development offices, advising centers, international student offices, financial aid offices, dean of students’ offices, institutional research offices, business affairs offices, enrollment management offices, Greek affairs offices, learning centers, wellness programs and in other staff or student services units and offices.

Admission to UNT’s Master’s Degree Programs in Higher Education

Admission to the master’s degree programs is competitive because available faculty, internships, and assistantships do not permit admission of all qualified applicants. Therefore, approximately 15 students are typically admitted each year. Admission is a two-stage process.

First, the student must be admitted to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must submit to the graduate school a satisfactory GPA (2.8/4.0) and scores on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination.

Second, a departmental application must be submitted to the Higher Education program, along with three letters of recommendation completed on special forms provided by the department and a writing sample.

All required admission materials must be filed in the Higher Education program office by June 1 for the Fall semester, November 15 for the Spring semester, or March 1 for the Summer semester for which the student is applying to begin the program. Shortly after the application deadline, each applicant may be required to participate in an interview session with the Program Coordinator and/or the program faculty.

• Admission Application
• Masters degree plan

Doctoral Degree Programs in Higher Education

The Program in Higher Education offers the Ed.D. and Ph.D. in Higher Education.  Both programs are designed to enable students to: 

• acquire knowledge about and evaluate major organizational, behavioral and learning theories applicable to higher education;
• conduct applied and/or basic research in the field of higher education;
• become familiar with past, present and emerging patterns of organizational and professional administrative practice in higher education; and
• observe and participate in the actual practice of higher education administration and/or research. 

However, the Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs differ significantly in their length and emphasis and in course work, research tool, minor field and dissertation requirements.

• Doctoral Application Form
• Doctoral Program Timeline and Benchmarks
• Doctoral Application Deadlines and Criteria
• Doctoral Degree Programs in Higher Education 
• Doctoral Degree Plan Form