Division of Higher Education
The division houses a set of graduate degree options in higher education that provide academic preparation and professional development to students who presently hold or seek careers in college and university administration and leadership, policy development, and scholarly research. Graduate students in the division are primarily seeking one of four degrees: Master of Education (Ed.M.), Master of Science (M.S.), Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Program priorities include integrating theory and practice, maintaining strong interdisciplinary areas of study, fostering high quality research, and enhancing leadership development. The program also seeks to promote academic integrity in the field of study and to provide college and university administrators, policy makers, and faculty with practical research and professional development in the State of Illinois and throughout the United States.
The program curriculum is designed to provide graduate students with a theoretical and practical understanding of the social, political, and economic issues encompassing the development and future challenges of higher and postsecondary institutions. Curricular priorities include integrating theory and practice, maintaining strong interdisciplinary areas of study, fostering high quality research, and enhancing leadership development. Students are expected to attain these academic objectives through a set of interrelated core courses that examine relevant conceptual and theoretical developments in history, public policy, diversity, and philosophy. The program also offers students an opportunity to examine multiple research methodologies, to acquire methodological specializations based on interest and expertise, and to undertake guided internships.
Admissions Information
Graduate Degree Programs
Master's Programs and More | Doctoral Programs |
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Faculty in Higher Education
 | Kern AlexanderExcellence ProfessorKern Alexander’s current research interests include education finance and law. He has worked extensively as an expert in state school finance litigation. He is the Editor of the Journal of Education Finance and has recently completed a major revision of his widely-used graduate text, American Public School Law. Having served as president of two public universities, Alexander has an ongoing research interest in high education administrating, finance, and law.more information... |
 | James D. AndersonHead / Gutgsell ProfessorJames D. Anderson (Ph.D. Illinois), is the author of The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935, which received the Outstanding Book Award of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). His most current work is the forthcoming No Sacrifice Too Great: The History of African American Education from Slavery to the Twenty-First Century. He received the Distinguished Career Contributions Award from AERA’s Committee on Scholars of Color in Education. He served as advisor to and participant in the PBS documentaries “School” 2001), and “The Percy Julian Story” (2007). He is the Senior Editor of the History of Education Quarterly. In 2008 he was elected to the National Academy of Education.more information... |
 | Lorenzo BaberAssistant ProfessorLorenzo Baber’s primary research agenda focuses on the impact of socioeconomic background and ethnicity on identity development and academic outcomes for postsecondary students. He is particularly interested in investigating the persistent educational achievement gap between minority and majority students at Predominately White Institutions. Additional research interests include examination of university-neighborhood partnership initiatives in urban communities and international comparative education.more information... |
 | Debra BraggProfessorDebra Bragg’s research focuses on transition to college by youth and adults, especially student populations that have not attended college historically. She is particularly interested in how underserved youth and adult students (minority, low income, first-generation, immigrant students) use the community college to transition to higher education, including how public policies position community colleges as a primary port of entry. The expanding mission of community colleges, including the increasing importance of linkages to high schools, adult education, postsecondary education and the workforce is of particular interest. Her work is affiliated with the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL)more information... |
 | Timothy Reese CainAssistant ProfessorTim Cain’s research examines historical issues in American higher education. He has written on the development of academic freedom and tenure, the contested rise of faculty unionization, and efforts to control student expression.more information... |
 | Jennifer DelaneyAssistant Professor |
 | Denice HoodAssistant ProfessorMy current research interests include issues of teaching and learning in online postsecondary learning environments. Specifically, I am interested in the intersection between adult learning, cognitive and social factors that contribute to academic success, cultural aspects of pedagogy and the policy implications. more information... |
 | Stanley IkenberryRegent Professor and President EmeritusStan Ikenberry, the former president of the University of Illinois and of the American Council of Education, teaches courses on higher education policy and leadership and serves as advisor to doctoral students. In addition, he holds an appointment as Senior Fellow in the University’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs and is Co-director of the Forum for the Future of Public Education. His current areas of interest include higher education assessment, public attitudes about higher education, and privatization of public universities.more information... |
 | Russell KorteAssistant ProfessorMy interests include investigating and understanding the social dynamics of learning and working in organizations. Recently, I have been studying the socialization experiences of newly hired engineers, engineering students, and medical students; specifically how they learn the cultural, social, and political norms (i.e., the unwritten rules) of the organizations in which they learn and work. Related to this I have conducted research with the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education and the Collaborative Research Lab at Stanford University. This work entailed studying the experiences of engineering students as they learned their profession in school.more information... |
 | William TrentProfessorMy past research has focused on: 1) Educational Inequality: school desegregation effects (K-12, postsecondary), benefits and consequences, social organziation of school, status attainment research, co- and extracurricular activities, comparative education; 2) Race and Ethnicity: social stratification and mobility, equality of opportunity; and 3) Complex Organization/Social Change/Policy. I am principal investigator for an Educational Reform Project focused on understanding the role of race, ethnicity, class and gender in school reform. I have also recently served as an expert witness on a court appointed panel in Vaughns, et. al. v. Bd. of Educ. of P.G. Co., MD.more information... |
