Mission:

The UNT Program in Higher Education promotes human development through education, research, and service that advance the profession of, and scholarship in, higher education.

The Program provides education and professional development for individuals who serve or will serve as administrators, faculty, and scholars in higher education institutions, governmental agencies, policy or research centers, and professional associations that conduct postsecondary education in the United States and globally.

The Program develops professionals capable of planning, operating, and improving the effectiveness of higher education through the study of the historical, theoretical, and philosophical foundations of the field and the advancement of these factors through research and development based in the application of logic and empirical processes that merge theory and practice.  Program graduates contribute to higher education practice and research regionally, nationally and globally and contribute to civic and social aspects of community at the local, state, national, and international levels.

Instruction, research, and development in the Program in Higher Education operate within the cognitive and affective learning domains and apply empirical and logical means to advance knowledge and practice.

The educational ends of the Program promote leadership, critical thinking, and research competencies through mastery of a common core of knowledge within the field.  Specifically, these are achieved through graduate course work, independent study, practica, research,  and service activities that relate to the doctoral and master’s degrees and through the professional activities of the Center for Higher Education and the Bill J. Priest Center for Community College Education.

The explicit and implicit operations of The Program are grounded in the need for faculty and students to teach and practice academic integrity and ethical behaviors as professionals and individuals.

Vision:

The Program in Higher Education seeks local, state, regional, national, and international prominence as a collaborative and transformative community engaged in exemplary research, education, and service that benefit the profession of higher education, the public it serves, and humanity at large.

History and Overview of the UNT Program in Higher Education:

The University of North Texas has offered the master's degree (M.S. and M.Ed.) and the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees with a major in Higher Education since 1970. The university has awarded over 400 doctorates in Higher Education. Thus, the UNT Program in Higher Education is among the oldest and largest of the 87 student services/higher education graduate programs in the United States. The program has five full-time and five-part time faculty members. In addition, the program uses the services of selected administrators to teach courses in their respective areas of expertise. A total of 140 students are usually engaged in various stages of graduate study during any given semester. Approximately 80% of these students are enrolled part-time while employed in D/FW metroplex institutions of higher education or other area educational agencies; approximately 54% are female, 5% are international scholars, and 9% are members of minority groups. Program graduates have been and continue to be employed as entry, middle and senior level administrators (including presidents, vice presidents and deans) and faculty members in colleges and universities throughout the state, region, nation and world.