A Distinctive Higher Education Program
Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education: Dr. Regina Deil-Amen
Established in 1977, the Center for the Study of Higher Education offers flexible, interdisciplinary, and individualized master of arts and doctor of philosophy degree programs with concentrations in comparative higher education, organization and administration, college access, and student affairs.
The Center's Faculty
- Dr. Nolan Cabrera, Associate Professor
- Dr. Regina Deil-Amen, Professor
- Dr. Mary Irwin, Assistant Professor of Practice, Director Project SOAR
- Dr. Z Nicolazzo, Assistant Professor
- Dr. Amanda Kraus, Assistant Professor of Practice
- Dr. Jenny Lee, Professor
- Dr. Jameson (J.D.) Lopez, Assistant Professor
- Dr. Gary Rhoades, Professor and Center Director
- Dr, Karina Salazar, Assistant Professor
Dr. Judy Kiyama, Professor (non teaching) & Associate Vice Provost, Faculty Development ([email protected])
The Center's work is distinguished by:
- A commitment not just to improving practice, but also to educational changes that enhance the realization of social justice in higher education.
- A consideration of how developments in the political economy shape and are expressed in the restructuring of higher education settings, professions, and practices.
- An exploration of the international/global dimensions, issues, and agencies related to higher education, with particular attention devoted to the Americas.
These distinctive characteristics go beyond individual faculty; they reflect a collective synergy and orientation of our faculty to scholarship and practice.
A Diverse, Supportive, Challenging Intellectual Community
Each year we matriculate around ten (10) Ph.D. students and twenty (20) M.A. students. The life experience and perspectives of the 90-100 students enrolled here flavor our program. A high proportion of our students are accomplished professionals and we value the practical experience and organizational skills they bring.
Ours is a diverse, supportive, challenging intellectual community. Over two-thirds of our students are women, over 20 percent are students of color, and over one-third are students of color. Many are first-generation students. This diversity enriches our community and work.
In recognition for its commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, the Center for the Study of Higher Ed has been honored with the Peter W. Likins Inclusive Excellence Award in 2010.
Faculty at the Center help foster a culture of research
We are supportive of each other's work and that of our students. Most of our students work, yet are fully engaged intellectually in a program that emphasizes a culture of research and reflective practice. Our aim is to bring theories and findings from the academic literature to bear on professional practice in ways that enhance students' abilities to understand, analyze, and act within postsecondary organizations and systems. We seek students who are deeply committed to the advancement and improvement of higher education as students, practitioners, scholars, and activists.
Most of our students advance into positions in various support professions and administration, but some also pursue faculty positions and are placed in a variety of research, comprehensive and community college settings. Although most obtain positions on college and university campuses, we have also placed students in systemwide administration, policy agencies such as WICHE, and in private enterprise.
An important contributor to our intellectual community is the Higher Education Student Organization (HESO). It sponsors formal and informal annual functions and activities that are academic, professional, and social in nature and that address student needs as well as bring students and faculty together for supportive exchange.
The doctoral program integrates core courses in Higher Education, electives, and a minor in individually tailored courses of study that encourage students to undertake course-work with faculty in a variety of departments. The substantive core coursework (Higher Education in the U.S.,, Organization and Administration, and either College Access and Success, Theories of Inequality, Oppression, and Social Stratification, or Introduction to Comparative Higher Education) provides a foundation enabling students to comprehend the central socio-political, cultural, organizational, and economic structures comprising and influencing American higher education. The core methods classes (Quantitative Methods in Higher Education. Qualitative Methods in Higher Education, and Research Design) provide students with foundational skills with which to frame their dissertation research and other forms of inquiry,
The aim within each is for students to acquire a comprehensive understanding of concepts, theoretical frameworks, issues and practices in a particular area. Such work is organized to provide a solid foundation for students' doctoral dissertations as well as for their particular field of professional work. In addition to the concentration, doctoral students pursue a minor. The minor may be in higher education, in some other field (e.g. the student's area of master's work) or split between higher education and some other department.
Departments/Academic Unit(s)
Educational Policy Studies and Practice - https://www.coe.arizona.edu/epsp
The Department of Educational Policy Studies and Practice (EPSP) includes the Educational Leadership Program and the Center for the Study of Higher Education. The EPSP department combines the K-12 focus with postsecondary education to create a P-20 perspective that taps into the dominant discourse of education and policymakers today.
Both the Center for the Study of Higher Education (HED) and the Educational Leadership (EDL) program maintain their core functions and curriculum, consistent with professional career paths and state standards for certification leading to licensure. However, the combined unit more broadly facilitates and encourages research, instructional, and service and outreach initiatives consistent with a policy development and analysis focus.
A key departmental strength concentrates on how organizations, institutions (both formal and informal), official practices, and educational professions affect outcomes across local, national, and international contexts and how these entities are themselves affected by societal, economic, and political pressures.
EPSP prepares graduate students at the doctorate and master's levels. Graduate programs in HED include Ph.D. and M.A. degrees. Graduate programs in EDL include an Ed.D., Ph.D., Ed.S., and M.Ed. The M.Ed. degree is a standards-driven curriculum leading to both a degree and state certification for the principalship.
College: College of Education
Campus where offered: Main Campus - Tucson
Tuition and Fees:
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