The one-year, executive-style master's degree in Global Higher Education Management prepares working individuals for university leadership challenges in a complex and changing world. Designed and taught by internationally respected GSE faculty and active university leaders from around the world, this unique online program focuses on university management. Join a cohort and take on pressing problems of practice in both local and international contexts, exploring how to build high-performing universities and producing a capstone project.
This online executive program provides the knowledge and global network to lead institutions into the future. Practice-based and problem-focused, the yearlong curriculum draws on Penn’s internationally renowned faculty and extensive practitioner network to help you develop the skills and expertise needed to lead universities today and creating tomorrow’s universities.
Culminating experienceMaster’s capstone project
The Global Higher Education Management program develops and connects university leaders from around the world who are committed to improving and enhancing higher education institutions. Participants in this program will:
The program is geared toward full-time professionals who have at least five years of work experience in universities and education-related organizations and agencies. Some may already have advanced degrees and be moving from academic to administrative positions, and others may be looking to transition into careers in student services, strategic leadership, business and operations, international education, academic affairs, and fundraising. Penn GSE seeks to admit students from around the world to ensure a diverse class of scholars. Instruction and coursework will be in English.
This executive-style master’s degree uses a condensed, modular format in which students take a structured sequence of modules as a cohort. Three modules equate to one course, and the degree program requires ten courses. The program is geared toward working adults, but it is a full-time degree program. Therefore, students will need to make a commitment to the program and balance their work and personal commitments. Each module is based on ten hours of student engagement and includes additional time spent on readings, papers, and other assignments. Some modules are delivered over ten days, while others are delivered in a five-day condensed format. Each module will include at least two one-hour sessions of required synchronous sessions, and some modules may have more. Given the variations in time zones, program staff and faculty will work to accommodate program participants learning from around the world. We believe in the power of real-time engagement within the cohort and with program faculty and staff.
The curriculum includes the following courses and modules:
The High-Impact University
Building on one of GSE’s areas of expertise, these modules focus on the public purposes of higher education and how they can connect with and serve their diverse communities:
The Evolving Global Landscape
A globally focused program needs to address the continued globalization of higher education and understand transnational trends that create opportunities and pose potential disruptions and implications for post-secondary education. The modules are:
Magnifying the Mission
Teaching, learning, and research are the cornerstones of the academic enterprise. These three modules focus on the core activities of universities:
Governance, Change, and Strategy
Understanding how organizational change is fundamental for universities to be innovative and relevant. These modules focus on leading institutional change, crafting strategy as a roadmap for intentional change, and supporting meaningful governance:
The Human Enterprise
People are the most essential resource for higher education. These modules address fundamental issues such as diversity, management, and leadership:
The University in its External Contexts
Universities are dependent upon and shaped by their financial, policy, and accountability contexts. The notion of an ivory tower is outdated if it ever really existed. These modules focus on the impact and constraints of the various contexts in which universities operate:
The Challenges of Leading
Data can be considered an essential raw material for university administration. Data takes many forms and can be used in many ways to advance universities, which is the focus of these modules:
Designing the Future
The Business of the Academic Business
The intentional and wise use of financial resources is essential work of university administrators, as is the ability to generate revenue to support academic missions. These modules are:
Problems of Practice Laboratory
Central to this program is the application of knowledge to real-world problems. These three building block modules, leveraging design thinking ideas, provide the foundation for the program’s final capstone problem:
Higher Education faculty are leading the conversation about how to expand college access, equity, and affordability. These experts are routinely sought by university presidents, foundation leaders, journalists, and policymakers seeking to understand the changing landscape of higher education.
Ant Bagshaw Roberta Malee Bassett Ahmed Cassim Bawa Darkhan Bilyalov Yakut Gazi Jonathan Grant Jonathan Jansen Tom Kennie Michael Martinez Larry Moneta Alan Duncan Priestley Nirmala Rao Sarah B. Steinberg Karin Swartz Cyrill Walters Fredrick Hoopes Wampler
Strategy Consultant, L.E.K. Consulting
Ed.D., University of Sheffield
Global Lead for Tertiary Education, The World Bank
Ph.D., Boston College
Professor, Johannesburg Business School, University of Johannesburg
Ph.D., Durham University
Vice President, Kazakhstan National Academy of Sciences
Ph.D., Penn State University
Vice Provost for Learning Innovation and Digital Education and Professor of the Practice, Duke University
Ph.D., Texas A&M University
Founding Director, Different Angles
Ph.D., King’s Collge London
Distinguished Professor of Education, Stellenbosch University
Ph.D., Stanford University
Founding Director, Ranmore
Ph.D., Imperial College, London
Dean of Students, New York University Abu Dhabi
MBA, Babson College
Adjunct Professor, Penn GSE
Ed.D., University of Massachusetts - Amherst
General Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Office of the Provost, Nazarbayev University
Ph.D., University of Hull
Vice Chancellor and Professor of Politics, Krea University
Ph.D., University of London
Capstone Instructor
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Dean, Center for Community Engagement, York College
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania
Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University
Ph.D., University of Cape Town
Senior Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations, University of Pennsylvania
Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania
The program is intended for current university administrators looking to move into more senior university posts such as directors, deans and associate deans, and associate vice presidents and vice presidents. It also is aimed at academics who are transitioning into administrative positions, such as department chair, dean or associate dean, and directors of international affairs, research, quality assurance, or teaching and learning.
Please visit our Admissions and Financial Aid pages for specific information on the application requirements, as well as information on tuition, fees, financial aid, scholarships, and fellowships.
Contact us if you have any questions about the program.
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
3700 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-6415
admissions@gse.upenn.edu
finaid@gse.upenn.edu
GSE-GlobalHEManagement@gse.upenn.edu
Walter Lohmann
Program Coordinator
215-898-8480
wlohmann@upenn.edu
Please view information from our Admissions and Financial Aid Office for specific information on the cost of this program.
Most students in this program are anticipated to fund their degree through a combination of personal resources and employer benefits. Limited scholarships are available to a select group of individuals.