Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University
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    Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University

    Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    United States of America
    United States of America, University Park
    University Rank:#82
    Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University

    International students can study the Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University across its Main Site, Any Penn State Campus, Berks, and World Campus campuses in University Park , United States of America. This Bachelor degree is available as a Full Time program delivered on campus in English. The program has a duration of 4 years and is offered across its Main Site, Any Penn State Campus, Berks, and World Campus campuses. Students can apply for the next intake starting on June 1, 2027.

    About Bachelor of Organizational Leadership

    A rapidly growing global environment creates demand for professionals who are schooled in leadership. Employers prefer individuals who exhibit strengths in problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking, decision-making, listening, and conflict management. Courses in psychology, sociology, communication, philosophy, management, and labor and employment relations can prepare you for a change in career or help you to advance into leadership positions. The Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership includes a curriculum immersed in the social sciences, humanities, and language, in addition to prescribed organizational leadership courses. It can help you explore the role of leadership from a relationship-based perspective.

    You Might Like This Program If...

    You are interested in an online program that offers convenience to study around your schedule with world-class faculty, to expand your employment opportunities or obtain a degree for professional advancement. An education in organizational leadership can provide you with a broad perspective to prepare for today's complex social, cultural, and professional issues that you are likely to encounter in positions of leadership. The unique student OLEAD club offers professional development opportunities and community building.

    The degree draws on many of the disciplines of the liberal arts, as well as business and science, to illuminate the issues that all leaders face regarding work and employment issues in the 21st Century, as well as in other aspects of organizational life more generally. Students select courses in crime, law, and justice, political science, sociology, labor and employment relations, communication arts and sciences, management, and psychology. The goal is to provide a broad education that introduces methods of analysis used in the disciplines of the liberal arts and prepares students to understand the complex social, cultural, and organizational issues that they will confront in leadership positions in the modern world.

    • Roles and Functions of Leadership: Understand the roles and the major functions of leadership in contemporary organizations;
    • Leadership Foundations: Articulate the theoretical and empirical foundations for different approaches to the exercise of leadership;
    • Strategy: Detect, accurately frame, and select appropriate strategies for overcoming obstacles to effective organizational performance that leaders face;
    • Organizational Tasks and Relationship Management: Exhibit intellectual and behavioral competencies useful in the successful execution of critical organizational tasks and the management of relationships;
    • Organizational Structure: Recognize the internal structures of organizations and their impact on members' performance;
    • Social Processes: Appreciate the social processes operative in the exercise of influence, as well as how to improve them;
    • Upward Mobility: Draw on their knowledge of leadership in transitioning from lower-level to higher-level positions of responsibility and authority in organizations;
    • Global Perspective: Bring a global perspective to the exercise of leadership;
    • Ethics: Grasp the importance of enacting leadership responsibly and in an ethically defensible manner.

    Disciplines

    Liberal Arts

    Requirements and Admission Criteria for Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University

    Entry Requirements

    Penn State requires the submission of specific academic credentials to complete your application. Review the secondary and post-secondary requirements for your country below.

    If you are a first year student applying to Penn State:

    Click Apply to start your Penn State application. Before starting, you can also review the Applying Online Worksheet for more details and helpful hints about the application.

    Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

    After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR). As you begin the SRAR process, a new window will open allowing you to complete your SRAR. SRAR will focus on your high school coursework. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. Therefore, have a copy of your secondary school records available as you complete your SRAR. You will need to enter every class and every grade earned for the last three years, as well as those classes in progress.

    After completing your SRAR, you will be directed back to the Penn State application in order to complete the Program of Study portion of the application. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for first-year students.

    After completing this section of the application, you will provide some additional information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

    If you are a transfer student applying to Penn State:

    All international transfer students will be required to submit official high school transcripts in order to complete the application. International transfer students will not complete the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) for either their high school or college coursework.

    If you have accepted your offer of admission to Penn State:

    If you completed SRAR and are accepted to Penn State, please provide the following for grade verification:

    • Official transcript from years 9, 10, 11, and 12. If the transcript is issued in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.
    • Official copy of the Tawjihi, accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.

    English Requirements

    • IELTSMin 6.5
    • TOEFLMin 80

    Career Opportunities after Completing Bachelor of Organizational Leadership

    A Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership can prepare you to work in a range of relationship-focused careers in which you can showcase your ability to manage and nurture business and professional relationships through motivational strategies, conflict management, and other forms of interpersonal and social influence. The degree will benefit any career in which leadership skills are necessary for the advancement of the overall business climate through interpersonal interactions.

    The degree is perfect for collaborative work environments in manufacturing, service industries, government, communications, charitable and nonprofit organizations, and multinational organizations. Graduates of Penn State's School of Labor and Employment Relations, of which the OLEAD program is a part, have found employment in such companies as Google, Earnst and Young, GE, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Samsung Electronics, PriceWaterHouseCoopers Consulting, government agencies such as the U. S. Department of Labor, and in labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, and the Service Employees International Union.

    MORE INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL CAREER OPTIONS FOR GRADUATES OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

    Opportunities for Graduate Studies

    Penn State World Campus offers a Master of Professional Studies in Human Resources and Employment Relations (HRER) in which the curriculum balances advanced theory with practical knowledge. After receiving strong fundamental knowledge, the program focuses on the complex personal, legal and organizational issues inherent in the relationship between employers, employees, unions, and government. As in the undergraduate OLEAD program, students in the M.P.S. in HRER program have the opportunity to study with highly regarded faculty from Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts, one of the premier institutions in the world to study and work in the liberal arts disciplines.

    MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDIES

    Professional Resources

    • Society for Human Resource Management
    • Penn State World Campus
    • The LABOR School at Penn State
    • Academy of Human Capital Development
    • International Brotherhood of Teamsters
    • American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

    Tuition and Fee Information for Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University

    Application Fee 75

    How to Apply for Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University

    Step 1: Choose Your Application Method

    Apply through MyPennState

    The first step of the application process is to create a Penn State account, if you do not have one already. MyPennState is where future students can access the online application.

    If you are new to MyPennState, you will need to establish a Penn State User ID and password, which you will access during the MyPennState profile creation process. Once you have your log in information, you can sign in to begin work on your application.

    When creating the profile, please use the name that is on your passport. Because materials are filed alphabetically under the family name on the application, it is important that all correspondence and records consistently use the same name (family and given) and spelling. If this name does not match your academic records, please notify us of the difference. Please note: In the U.S., the family name is usually referred to as the last name, and the given name is referred to as the first name.

    Additionally, Penn State requires a current, valid email address, as that is our primary means of communication with international students. To ensure deliverability, please make Penn State (psu.edu) an eligible sender to the account.

    Applying through the Common App

    Applying to Penn State via the Common App is available to first-year (freshman) international students. If applying through the Common App, Penn State will create a MyPennState profile when the application is submitted and you will receive instructions on how to access your profile. If you intend to apply with the Common App, you do not need create a MyPennState profile prior to submitting your application.

    Step 2: Access the Application and Review Important Dates

    While you can create a MyPennState profile at any time, the application for admission becomes available on the following dates:

    Fall/Summer Admission: August 1

    Spring Admission: June 1

    The application submission dates vary by applicant type and intended program of study. Some programs have specific deadlines or admissions requirements. Please refer to our Dates & Deadlines for more information about application deadlines, as well as our Admissions Requirements to review information about any additional materials required for your intended program of study.

    Step 3: Start Your Penn State Application

    If applying through MyPennState:

    Click Apply Online to start your Penn State application. 

    Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the "Save and Continue" button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

    After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR), unless otherwise directed. You will be directed to enter information about your secondary school coursework. Please have a copy of your secondary school records as you complete SRAR. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. You will need to enter every grade for every course you have taken in the last three years, as well as your current schedule of classes.

    Students educated in South Korea will not complete SRAR. The document requirements for South Korea can be found by reviewing our International Credential Requirements.

    After this section, you will be directed back to the Penn State application to complete the Program of Study portion. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for either first-year students or transfer students.

    After this portion, you will provide some additional application information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

    If applying through the Common App:

    Complete the Common App, which will then direct you to MyPennState to complete SRAR. Applicants using the Common App may feel that they provided their high school record via the Common App, but Penn State requires the completion of SRAR via MyPennState. We strongly encourage you to obtain an official copy of your high school transcript to ensure accurate entry of your coursework completed and grades earned. The SRAR will include all of your high school coursework from your last three years of work and your current year schedule. If your final year grades are available when you enter SRAR, you can enter them at that time.

    Step 4: Submit Your Application

    The application requires a nonrefundable application fee of $75 for international students. Be sure to complete the last step after Summary and Review, which finalizes payment of your fee, and be certain it is successfully submitted. Once the application is submitted, you can verify its completion by accessing your MyPennState profile.

    Step 5: Submit Required Application Materials

    In order to complete your Penn State application, we need the following materials:

    • Application
    • Secondary school record
    • Post-secondary school records (if applicable)
    • First-year applicants only: Official test scores: SAT (code #2660) or ACT (code #3656)

      Writing Component and Subject Tests

      Please note: The writing component of standardized tests (SAT or ACT) is not required. The writing component will not be used as part of our evaluation. If your test scores include the writing component, by all means, have those scores sent to Penn State. Additionally, we do not require SAT Subject Tests.

    • English language proficiency, if your native language is not English

    Please see the admissions requirements for international students to review the details about the required application materials. Some programs require additional items to complete your application. Please review our Admissions Requirements for those details.

    Penn State does not require letters of recommendation, nor are they used in a student’s evaluation (unless required for a specific program).

    Step 6: Check Your Application Status in MyPennState

    You can always check the status of your application in MyPennState. We will communicate with you via MyPennState and through a series of emails regarding the missing items for your application. When everything has arrived, you will see a status in MyPennState confirming the completion of your application.

    Please note: It is your responsibility to check on the status of your application and send us any missing materials.

    Step 7: Receive Your Admission Decision

    Once we have reached a decision regarding your application, we will update your status in MyPennState and provide a printable PDF of your decision letter. Review our Dates & Deadlines to see when you should expect your decision.

    If accepted, you can accept your offer of admission in MyPennState to begin the process of becoming a Penn State student. Visit our Accepted Students section to review the next steps in this process. Once you accept your offer of admission to Penn State, those students completing SRAR will submit their official records for validation purposes as soon as possible.

    Bachelor of Organizational Leadership at Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    United States of America

    United States of America, University Park

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