Achieve your personal and professional goals…

The Higher Education Administration Program provides the opportunity to pursue your goals in a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment. Through our evening and weekend classes, we are able to help you overcome barriers of time and distance. Whether you pursue your graduate degree as a fulltime student or as a working professional, the HEA program offers several options.

Master of Arts The Master of Arts degree is designed for students seeking to enter a range of professional careers in higher education. Students gain academic preparation necessary for entry level leadership positions. Additionally, the M.A. program offers current two- or four-year administrators an opportunity to expand their skills and improve their understanding of the entire institution. Because our classes are available in the evenings and on weekends at both our main Tuscaloosa campus and our Gadsden Center, the M.A. can be pursued without interrupting a professional career.

Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration Program Planning Form

Doctor of Education The Doctor of Education degree provides academic preparation and professional development for those individuals who have and will assume upper-level administrative and executive roles in two- and four-year colleges and universities, state and federal postsecondary education agencies, and other education-related organizations. The curriculum is designed around the key competencies necessary to assume a leadership role, with courses in program assessment and evaluation, policy, organizational change, and student affairs administration. The program is offered through evening and weekend courses at both our Tuscaloosa campus and Gadsden Center.

Ed.D. Program Planning Worksheet

Doctor of Philosophy The Doctor of Philosophy degree prepares students to assume scholarly roles in higher education. The Ph.D. program emphasizes working with faculty in a one-on-one setting with students participating in a mentored teaching and research sequence, providing first-hand experiences of faculty life. Students investigate and contribute to a body of knowledge that informs higher education policy and practice at the institutional, statewide, national, and international level.

Ph.D. Program Planning Worksheet

Executive Ed.D. The Executive Ed.D. is for experienced professionals seeking a doctorate in higher education administration. In this program, professionals develop knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to advance in leadership positions. The program combines theoretically-rich studies with an applied research approach suited to professional needs. Intensive coursework and a carefully structured dissertation process allow students to complete the degree in six semesters—without interrupting their careers.

Students experience intensive study at the state’s flagship university while learning with other professionals who are currently working in two- and four-year colleges and universities as well as in higher education related industries, foundations, and government agencies. The curriculum is engaging and designed to move quickly through introductory material and to tackle advanced issues for working administrators, who bring a level of practical experience upon which traditional programs rarely draw.

You will begin your dissertation immediately in the Executive Ed.D. Cohort and the dissertation is integrated across the curriculum, with dissertation-related assignments due at each meeting. Students plan, conduct, write, and defend research studies while still in coursework. This structured approach ensures that students identify appropriate topics, meet concrete deadlines, and benefit from peer support.

I work very hard, in each class that I teach, to carry each topic that we study through to its practical application because students often ask, “So what can knowing this do for me in the real world of higher education administration?” My goal is to help them do better in the jobs that they have now, and to prepare them for the jobs that t hey hope to have in the future.

David Hardy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor