Higher Education MEd – Online Admissions

Admissions

We use rolling admissions, and admitted students can begin the program in the Fall, Spring, or Summer terms. 

We use the following dates as priority deadlines for each semester, but we encourage students to reach out to us about their applications even if these dates have passed. Please note that we close admissions when the program is full.

  • Fall semester: July 1
  • Spring semester: December 1
  • Summer semester: April 1

Prerequisites

  • Generally we require a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0.
  • Experience working in the field of higher education or an adjacent field, usually for two years or more. If you are a recent graduate and/or do not have previous experience working in higher education, please consider applying to our in-person MEd program instead.
  • Our master’s students come from many different undergraduate majors (English, Communications, Government, Journalism, Political Science, Health Science, Economics, Sociology, Business Administration, History, Education, Media Studies).

Required Materials

  • Graduate Online Admissions Application
  • Letters of Recommendation – A minimum of two letters of recommendation. At least one should be from someone who can speak about your academic background.
  • Official transcript(s) – An official transcript from all colleges/universities attended, undergraduate and graduate, where 6 or more credits were taken will be required to begin the program. *When first submitting an application, an unofficial transcript is fine. Please see the UMass After You Apply webpage for transcript information.
  • Personal Statement – Tell us why you are interested in pursuing a program in Higher Education, and why this is the right program for you, including your previous experience working in higher education and specific directions you'd like to take your work in higher education.
  • Résumé/CV
  • Application fee
  • The GRE is not required

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you submit your application, UMass Graduate School Admissions will put a date on your application, which often is much farther away than desired (e.g. "Fall 2025"). If this is not accurate, please write your preferred term of entry at the end of your personal statement (e.g. "Spring 2025") and we will review for the term you specify. The program can only see completed applications. 

We encourage all applicants to reach out to info-leadership [at] umass [dot] edu (info-leadership[at]umass[dot]edu) to schedule a coaching session about the application process.