Master of Science in Education in Educational Administration

The online Master's degree in Educational Administration (PK-12) at the University of Kansas School of Education and Human Sciences consists of 36 credit hours of coursework, including an extensive field-based practicum and a comprehensive interactive digital portfolio for licensure candidates, and a comprehensive exam for non-licensure candidates - all of which can be completed within two years

For licensure candidates, the Internship Gateway course opens up halfway through the program after a student completes six courses.  This allows the graduate students to start internship hours earlier than the final internship ELPS 895 course.  While completing the remaining six courses for the master's program, students will meet with their mentor and faculty instructor to discuss the internship requirements as they finish their 175 hours of field internship experience and build a digital portfolio to complete the program. 

This program fulfills the academic requirements necessary for Kansas state licensure at the school (building) level and is designed to accommodate working educators who currently hold initial teaching licensure and work in the classroom (or other positions such as instructional coach) in their schools.  Depending on students' educational administration career aspirations they will develop a demonstrated understanding of content and skills that have been aligned with the National Educational Leadership Preparation building level standards: https//www.npbea.org/nelp/.  

Graduate students will learn from expert scholars and practitioners, as well as fellow classmates, who bring diverse leadership experiences to the principal preparation program at KU. The rigorous program stresses fundamental knowledge and educational policy development necessary for effective leadership. Taught by a mix of full-time tenure track faculty members who are experts in their field and by practitioners who were leaders in their schools, graduate students enrolled in this program, can expect to:

  • Extend their knowledge of pedagogy and leadership

  • Enlarge their understanding of schooling & develop an appreciation of the political, economic and social forces that influence the decisions of educational leaders

  • Share in-depth analyses and discussions of theory for application to real-world experiences in an online forum

  • Build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in the previous terms with progressive sequence of coursework

  • Develop and submit an e-portfolio during their final practicum experience to illustrate personal perspectives and experiences 

  • If seeking non-licensure, the candidate will complete a comprehensive exam during their final semester demonstrating their competencies in educational leadership