Each student selects an area of specialization. Selective courses are designed for each concentration, and in addition students may focus on this area of specialization through assignments in the core and research curricula. Areas of specialization include:

• Academic Administration and Instruction – preparing students for administrative and faculty roles in both public and private colleges and universities
• Community Colleges – designed for students who are administrators and faculty members in two-year institutions
• Nursing Education – preparing nurses with an MSN for administrative and faculty roles in collegiate nursing programs

Students enroll in classes during the fall and spring semester as part of a cohort, which creates a professional learning community to enhance student-to-student interactions and support throughout the program. This format is especially helpful for working adults who study part-time and move through the degree program as a cohort.

Through the cohort, students become professional colleagues (as well as good friends!), forming bonds that graduates continue to engage long after completing their studies.

Students may undertake any of the three concentrations regardless of the cohort in which they are enrolled.

New cohorts are initiated at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, as well as the summer term, once a threshold number of new students are in place to form the cohort.

An applied field experience, taken near the end of the course of study, allows you to sharpen the knowledge and skills you have developed in the program. During this 90-hour field experience seasoned professionals offer you personalized professional development opportunities and guidance related to issues and trends impacting higher education.

Examples of recent field experience engagements and their locations include:

• Development of IT technical skills to creation of Open Source Language training through video (Montgomery County Community College)
• Clery Center for Security on Campus (Wayne, PA)
• Space Study for facilities management (Immaculata University)
• Website Update: Center for Teaching and Learning (Kutztown University)
• Assessment Project: Evaluating Pathways to Success through Summer Bridge Programs (Penn State commonwealth campuses)

The capstone of the higher education program is your successful completion of a research study in your area of interest. You will select a chairperson at the start of the dissertation writing process who will work with you until the completion of your study. As a culminating experience, you will defend your research study to a panel of readers and university administrators.

Examples of the breadth of dissertation topics include:

• Faculty Validation of Students: An Exploration of Validation Theory through a Survey of Faculty Attitudes
• Correlating Self-Directed Learning Activities to Lifelong Learning Orientation in Baccalaureate Nursing Students
• Pathway to the Presidency: The Perceived Impact of Race, Gender, and Other Identity Structures on the Journey Experiences of White and African American Women College Presidents
• Adult Learners and Their Motivation to Strive for Academic Success in an Accelerated Undergraduate Program
• Behaviors of Online Faculty that Influence Course Completion and Student Success
• Intercultural Sensitivity toward Military Culture: Community College Staff Perceptions of Student Veterans
• Title IX and Services at Community Colleges
• Perceived Transferability of Writing Skills of Second Language Students from ESL to English Composition