Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) faculty and students spark innovative practice and produce research to address the contemporary challenges and persistent inequities in higher education.

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Higher Education Administration Program (U.S. News & World Report)

Top ranked HESA program

Program Overview

HESA offers educational leaders, scholars, and practitioners comprehensive expertise built from a range of intellectual traditions. Faculty have diverse philosophies, methods, disciplinary training, and personal backgrounds, ensuring students gain a deep understanding and interconnected view of the field.

A hallmark of the Iowa HESA program is its abundant opportunities for experiential learning; through assistantships, internships, practica, and more, HESA students have opportunities for leadership, service, teaching, and research.

Programs

MA Higher Education and Student Affairs

A theory-to-practice master’s preparing scholar-educators for careers in student affairs and higher ed administration.

PhD Higher Education and Student Affairs

A terminal doctorate preparing scholar-educators for leadership, faculty positions, and policy analysis.

EdD Educational Policy and Leadership Studies

A practice-based terminal doctorate preparing scholar-educators for upper-level leadership.

Questions?

Graduate Certificates

Certificate in Institutional Research and Effectiveness

Certificate in Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) prepares professionals to use data for institutional and organizational decision-making, reporting, and accountability in higher education and K-12 contexts.

Certificate in K-12 Equity and Inclusion

The Certificate in K-12 Equity and Inclusion offers professionals currently working in K-12 schools, districts, and area education agencies expertise in equity and inclusion to better support the needs and interests of a diversifying K-12 student population.

Faculty and Research

Higher Education and Student Affairs faculty are nationally and internationally recognized in the field and are active in a wide range of research areas.

To see associated faculty, please visit: Faculty Listing.

Areas of expertise include:

  • Minoritized students’ experiences
  • College choice and access
  • Student outcomes
  • Inequality in higher education
  • History of higher education
  • Multicultural initiatives
  • Internationalization
  • Higher education administration, policy, and governance
  • Student development
Students studying outdoors at Iowa Memorial Union

Center for Research and Undergraduate Education

The Center for Research on Undergraduate Education (CRUE) implements and disseminates research and scholarship that fosters an understanding of effective undergraduate education.

Old capitol building with flowers

Multicultural Initiatives Research Team (MCI)

The Multicultural Initiatives Research Team (MCI) researches ways of being in relationship, constructs and strategies that disrupt dehumanizing practices that perpetuate inequity.

Hear Katharine Broton, assistant professor, speak about her research into food access, scarcity, and higher education.

Missions and Values

The Higher Education and Student Affairs program is united in its commitment to advancing knowledge, and cultivating transformation in the practice and study of postsecondary education. The HESA program offers educational leaders, scholars, and practitioners comprehensive expertise built from a range of intellectual traditions. Our differences (philosophies, methods, disciplinary training, and personal backgrounds) exemplify the respect and concern we have for ensuring that students develop a deep understanding and interconnected view of the field. Together, the HESA program coalesces around a shared sense of responsibility to produce research, and to spark innovative thinking, that addresses the contemporary challenges and persistent inequities that permeate the field of higher education and student affairs.

Together we pursue these tasks by:

  • Engaging authentically with civility and respect
  • Critically examining issues of justice and social change
  • Offering learning experiences that require holistic reflection
  • Examining the classic and contemporary contexts of postsecondary education
  • Cultivating a caring and dynamic learning community and a rigorous culture of scholarship and ethical practice

Admissions and Application

For general admissions information, please visit Graduate Admissions. Please visit the degree pages for specific admissions information:

Apply Now

Please review your specific degree requirements before starting the general graduate application.

News

Cassie L. Barnhardt, project director, with Armand Krasniqi, rector of the University of Peje “Haxhi Zeka.”

New partnerships with private sector strengthens higher education in Kosovo

Thursday, June 1, 2023
The latest USAID-funded activity entitled Private Sector Partnerships to Strengthen Higher Education (PSPSHE) in Kosovo kicked off Monday, April 24, 2023, at the National Library of Kosovo.  The Iowa Consortium, led by the University of Iowa (UI), in cooperation with its partners Iowa State University (ISU), and the Kosova Education Center (KEC), is implementing the partnership.
Picture of UI research facility, with blue sky above.

Eight faculty-led projects funded by Seeding Excellence Initiative

Thursday, May 25, 2023
UI's Office of the Vice President for Research has selected the winners of eight pilot grants--several of which are led by College of Education faculty--intended to sustain the continued growth of the campus research enterprise by providing competitive seed funding in strategic areas.

College of Education faculty recognized for research excellence

Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Two College of Education faculty members – Seth King and Sherry Watt and the Multicultural Initiatives Research Team – were recently recognized for their exceptional research.

Questions?

We're here to help.

For general program questions, please email us: epls-hesa@uiowa.edu.

For admissions and application questions, please contact anne-sparks@uiowa.edu.