Division of Higher Education

The Division of Higher Education is one of two graduate divisions in the School of Education.

The division offers two programs at the Master’s level – Student Affairs and Higher Education.

  • The Master’s level program with an emphasis in Student Affairs offers residential-based curriculum for those interested in campus leadership and practice around student development.
  • The Master’s level program with an emphasis in Higher Education is a fully online program with two areas of emphasis:
    1. Community College Leadership
    2. Higher Education Administration

At the doctoral level, the division offers a Ph.D. program in Higher Education and an Ed.D. program in Community College Leadership. 

Building from the rich Iowa State tradition of preparing leaders and scholars in the field, the division prepares individuals to engage with critical issues in postsecondary education through inquiry into student development, institutional policy, organizational leadership, and educational equity. Drawing upon a range of methods and theories, faculty produce research and scholarship that address the most pressing issues in the field. Further, faculty are committed to developing collaborative relationships with students for development of a scholar-practitioner perspective at the master’s level and an emerging-scholar emphasis at the doctoral level.

Faculty and students have presented at local, regional, and national conferences including:

  • Iowa State Council on Race and Ethnicity (ISCORE)
  • American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
  • Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC)
  • Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)
  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA)

Faculty