The mission of the M.S.Ed. in Adult and Higher Education is to provide comprehensive continuing professional development and pre-professional preparation in adult and higher education encompassing local to global perspectives.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of the historical, social, and philosophical foundations of adult and higher education and their application to the practice of adult and higher education.
- Students will understand and apply learning and developmental theory to real-world settings.
- Students will understand and apply principles of program planning, assessment, and evaluation in adult and higher education.
- Students will critique and apply research findings to the practice of adult and higher education.
The 36-semester-hour Master of Science in Education--Adult and Higher Education, offers theoretical and methodological bases for professional development, while providing comprehensive pre-service professional education for persons seeking careers in adult and higher education. Developing a program of study in Adult and Higher Education is highly individualized, in which the students’ experiences, career goals, and needs for development are carefully considered in the development of the courses to be completed. Students generally select one area of study within adult and higher education to focus their course work.
A minimum of 18 credit hours or 50% of your total hours earned toward the degree must be completed in courses with a CAHA or CAHE prefix. All students in the M.S.Ed.–Adult and Higher Education should complete the Core requirement for the program. These include:
CAHA 500, Nature of Adult and Higher Education
CAHA 501, Adult Learning
Research Course (often ETR 520, Introduction to Educational Research)
CAHA 699, Thesisor Comprehensive Exam (Weekend Exam or Capstone Paper in CAHA 598)
Electives (As approved by your advisor. See the general areas of study in the program for recommended electives for each area).The general areas of study in the M.S.Ed.-AHE include:
- Adult Continuing Education. The Adult Continuing Education area of study provides students with a flexible program of professional study with course work in the areas of instruction, administration, and research, to prepare both generalists and specialists in adult education. Adult Continuing Education can be formal or informal, traditional or non-traditional, and embraces such areas as adult basic education, program planning, staff development, community education, adult literacy, Higher Education, and religious education. Students interested in Adult Continuing Education should consider the following recommended elective courses:
CAHA 502, Educating Culturally Diverse Adults
CAHA 530, Instructional Theory and Practice in Teaching Adults
CAHA 533, Learning How to Learn: Applied Theory for Adults
CAHA 540, Curriculum/Program Dev in Adult Continuing Ed
CAHA 545, Planning/Promoting Non-Credit Adult Continuing Ed
CAHA 570, Organization/Administration of Adult Continuing Ed
CAHA 575, Policy Studies in Adult Continuing Education
CAHA 586, Internship Experiences
Additional Electives: Courses in adult ESL, counseling, instructional technology, or other areas of interest that meet the needs of the student's career goals.- Community Development, International, and Popular Education. Community Development, Popular Education and International Adult Education are very broad categorizations in Adult and Higher Education. It encompasses learning for social action and empowerment of communities from the perspectives of policy, politics, history of social movements, and hands-on experiences. Adult and Higher Education faculty have developed b long-term international partnerships in China, Finland, Korea, Brazil, Chile, and Sri Lanka. Students interested in Community and Popular Education should consider the following recommended elective courses:
CAHA 502, Educating Culturally Diverse Adults
CAHA 575, Policy Studies in Adult Continuing Education
CAHA 581, Community Project Dev and Adult Education
CAHA 586, Internship Experiences
CAHA 722, Adult and Higher Education in Social Context
CAHA 761, Adult Learning in Social Movements
CAHA 760, International Adult Education
Additional Electives: Courses in adult ESL, counseling, instructional technology, or other areas of interest that meet the needs of the student's career goals.- Human Resource Development. The Human Resource Development area of study focuses on learning and performance issues in the workplace. It encompasses practice areas such as learning, training and development, organization development, career development, performance improvement, and knowledge management. Because of the diverse backgrounds of our students, the HRD area of study strives to address learning and performance issues in a wide variety of settings. Students interested in Human Resource Development should consider the following recommended elective courses:
CAHA 502, Educating Culturally Diverse Adults
CAHA 533, Learning How to Learn: Applied Theory for Adults
CAHA 586, Internship Experiences
CAHA 716, Adult Learning in the Workplace
CAHA 770, Leadership in Adult Continuing Education
CAHE 561, Human Resource Development
CAHE 715, Strategic Human Resource Development
Additional Electives: Courses in adult education, instructional technology, research and evaluation, counseling, psychology, business, management and other relevant fields appropriate for the student's professional career goals.- Student Affairs and Higher Education. The Student Affairs and Higher Education area of study is designed to prepare practitioners for administrative positions in student affairs and higher education that enhance the learning environments for students during their college experience. Students interested in student affairs will explore the development and culture of college students, administrative aspects of higher education organizations, and assessment and evaluation. This area of study is focused on students who wish to work in administrative positions in post-secondary institutions, including both 4-year colleges and universities and community colleges. CAHE and the Division of Student Affairs have partnered to develop the Graduate Student and Graduate Assistantship Recruitment Weekend to assist students interested in student affairs identify and apply for graduate assistantship opportunities. Students interested in Student Affairs in Higher Education should consider the following recommended elective courses:
CAHA 502, Educating Culturally Diverse Adults
CAHA 555, Seminar in the Community College
CAHA 586, Internship Experiences (6 credits)
CAHE 509, Culture of the College Student
CAHE 522, Student Development: Programs, Issues and Practices
CAHE 572, Assessment Methods in Higher Education
CAHE 701, Personnel Services in Higher Education
CAHE 702, Student Development: Theory/Practice
CAHE 770, The Administration of Higher Education
Additional Electives: Courses in adult education, psychology, sociology, history, research and evaluation, educational technology and other relevant fields appropriate for the student's professional career goals.
Prospective Students to the program have a number of opportunities to learn more about the program, it’s requirements and the application process.
- Each semester, Information and Open House Sessions are scheduled for students to meet and talk with faculty knowledgeable about the program.
- Additionally, each Fall the program sponsors the AHE Student-Faculty Retreat. Prospective students to the program are encouraged to participate in the Retreat to gain a better understanding of the program through small group sessions and informal discussions. The retreat provides a rare opportunity to interact with other students and faculty away from the constraints of office and classroom.
- Students may also explore the CAHE Homepage, and the Graduate Catalog for additional information.
Upon admission to the program, students are assigned a faculty advisor to assist in planning the graduate program of study, career planning, and other advisement needs. The name of the assigned advisor is included as part of your admissions letter from the graduate school. Students are encouraged to contact their advisor prior to registration to identify the first semester of courses. After students begin the semester, they should contact their advisor to set up an appointment to begin planning the program of study.
The purpose of the internship program is to provide you with a career experience and to help students develop skills appropriate to work and the work environment. Students work with the Internship Coordinator to identify internship experiences in adult and higher education agencies that meet the needs of exposing students to the breadth of the field and provide opportunities for learning, development and assessment/evaluation theory-to-practice applications. Students without sufficient full-time work experience in adult and higher education are bly encouraged to complete 1-2 internships during their graduate program. In general, these internships require 120 hours of field experience. For additional information about AHE Internships, see the Resources & Forms webpage.
Students in the M.S.Ed. Program have three options to complete the comprehensive exam requirement: (1) Complete a take-home comprehensive exam; (2) Complete a capstone experience in CAHA 598; or (3) Complete a Master's Thesis. Access the Resources & Forms webpage for more information about each of these options to complete the Comprehensive Exam requirement.
In graduate work in Adult and Higher Education, students have the responsibility to engage in and plan their learning experiences. Advisement procedures are carried out by the faculty in conjunction with the student, the department, and the Graduate School. While every faculty member is familiar with the advisement procedures, students are responsible for initiating the steps along the way.
The CAHE webpage includes a wealth of information about the field of adult and higher education, as well as specific policies and procedures of the academic program. Students are encouraged to explore the website to learn more about the opportunities available to them in the Adult and Higher Education Program.
The Admissions webpage includes the specific application procedures for the M.S.Ed. in Adult and Higher Education Program. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all application materials are submitted by the deadline (including test scores and recommendation letters).