CIP 13.0406 Education

Higher Education/Higher Education Administration

IPEDS Completions, US Department of Education · 2025

中文

Total graduates

3,915

2025 · 243 schools

International share

3.7%

144 international students

Bachelor's degrees

0.0% international

Master's degrees

2,848

4.0% international

Overview

Higher Education/Higher Education Administration is a specialized field that focuses on the administration, management, and policy development within colleges and universities. This program prepares students for leadership roles in various educational institutions and encompasses a wide range of topics including governance, organizational behavior, finance, student affairs, and institutional effectiveness.

Students in this field learn about the complexities of higher education systems, including the challenges and opportunities that institutions face in today’s dynamic educational landscape. Courses often cover topics such as enrollment management, strategic planning, diversity and inclusion, and assessment of student learning outcomes. Additionally, students may engage in practical experiences through internships or assistantships, providing them with valuable hands-on experience in real-world educational settings.

Graduates of this program can pursue careers as academic administrators, policy analysts, student affairs professionals, and higher education consultants, among other roles. They may work in various settings including public and private universities, community colleges, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations focused on education.

The field of higher education administration is increasingly important as institutions adapt to changes such as technological advancements, shifts in student demographics, and evolving workforce demands. As a result, professionals in this area play a crucial role in shaping the future of education and ensuring that institutions effectively serve their students and communities. Overall, the Higher Education Administration program equips individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to lead and innovate in the complex world of higher education.

Graduates by year

Graduates by degree level (first and second majors)

734 02

899 03

990 04

1,110 05

1,341 06

1,908 07

2,289 08

2,450 09

2,858 10

2,511 11

2,825 12

3,080 13

3,278 14

3,423 15

3,576 16

3,662 17

3,852 18

3,777 19

4,087 20

4,388 21

4,728 22

4,313 23

4,074 24

3,915 25

AssociateBachelor'sMaster'sDoctoral

From 2002 to 2025, graduates grew 433% and the international share went from 4.6% to 3.7%.

International share (%)

5 02

3 03

3 04

3 05

2 06

2 07

1 08

1 09

2 10

3 11

3 12

3 13

2 14

3 15

3 16

3 17

3 18

3 19

2 20

2 21

2 22

3 23

4 24

4 25

Graduates by group, 2025

White

47.3%

Asian

4.4%

Hispanic

16.1%

Black

19.4%

Other

9.1%

Intl.

3.7%

Colleges that award this degree

In 2025, 243 schools awarded this degree as a first major. The table lists those in the 2027 U.S. News National or Liberal Arts rankings, plus the unranked schools with the most graduates.

Rank	School	State	Graduates	International
#7	University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	84	12
#9	Northwestern University	Illinois	12	5
#16	Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	22	0
#23	Georgetown University	D.C.	35	1
#25	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Michigan	29	5
#26	University of Virginia-Main Campus	Virginia	38	0
#27	University of Southern California	California	49	1
#31	Boston College	Massachusetts	50	5
#31	New York University	New York	7	0
#34	University of Florida	Florida	10	0
#44	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	New Jersey	6	0
#49	University of Rochester	New York	12	0
#52	University of Georgia	Georgia	7	1
#52	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Virginia	9	2
#55	University of Miami	Florida	8	1
#55	The Pennsylvania State University	Pennsylvania	13	0
#59	George Washington University	D.C.	22	2
#59	Florida State University	Florida	21	2
#59	Stony Brook University	New York	42	0
#59	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	Pennsylvania	19	1
#69	Michigan State University	Michigan	24	2
#72	Syracuse University	New York	20	1
#73	University of Connecticut	Connecticut	14	0
#73	Howard University	D.C.	10	0
#73	Indiana University-Bloomington	Indiana	19	2
#73	Binghamton University	New York	11	0
#73	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	North Carolina	18	0
#80	Drexel University	Pennsylvania	7	0
#85	University at Buffalo	New York	18	1
#85	Southern Methodist University	Texas	12	0
#90	Baylor University	Texas	11	0
#90	Texas Christian University	Texas	2	0
#90	Marquette University	Wisconsin	11	3
#95	University of Illinois at Chicago	Illinois	13	0
#100	University of San Diego	California	15	0
#100	Florida International University	Florida	49	6
#100	University of Iowa	Iowa	21	4
#100	Saint Louis University	Missouri	11	2
#100	Elon University	North Carolina	6	1
#109	Loyola Marymount University	California	2	0
#109	University of Colorado Boulder	Colorado	3	0
#109	Temple University	Pennsylvania	22	0
#109	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Tennessee	14	0
#116	University of San Francisco	California	9	0
#121	Arizona State University-Tempe	Arizona	21	2
#121	University of Arizona	Arizona	27	3
#121	University of Denver	Colorado	26	4
#121	Loyola University Chicago	Illinois	12	1
#121	SUNY at Albany	New York	13	0
#121	University of Dayton	Ohio	3	0
#121	George Mason University	Virginia	5	1
#133	University of Vermont	Vermont	10	4
#137	University of Alabama at Birmingham	Alabama	14	0
#137	San Jose State University	California	13	0
#137	University of Houston	Texas	22	1
#148	Mercer University	Georgia	18	0
#148	University of Kansas	Kansas	11	1
#148	University of Kentucky	Kentucky	4	0
#148	University of Rhode Island	Rhode Island	10	1
#156	The University of Alabama	Alabama	29	1
#156	California State University-Fullerton	California	46	0
#156	University of St Thomas (MN)	Minnesota	3	0
#156	Montclair State University	New Jersey	12	0
#156	Seton Hall University	New Jersey	3	0
#156	University of Portland	Oregon	10	0
#156	Duquesne University	Pennsylvania	5	0
#169	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	Colorado	12	0
#179	University of Louisville	Kentucky	119	0
#179	University of Mississippi	Mississippi	31	0
#179	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	Ohio	8	0
#179	Seattle University	Washington	12	1
#186	California Lutheran University	California	1	0
#186	Texas Tech University	Texas	29	1
#191	University of Arkansas	Arkansas	12	0
#191	Hofstra University	New York	12	0
#202	Sacred Heart University	Connecticut	9	0
#202	Ohio University-Main Campus	Ohio	27	7
#208	California State University--Fresno	California	13	0
#208	Mississippi State University	Mississippi	14	1
#208	University of North Carolina at Greensboro	North Carolina	11	0
#208	University of North Texas	Texas	28	0
#227	Ball State University	Indiana	6	0
#227	University of North Dakota	North Dakota	4	0
#227	West Chester University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	12	1
#227	University of Texas-San Antonio	Texas	9	1
#227	West Virginia University	West Virginia	17	1
#236	University of North Florida	Florida	10	0
#236	Bethel University	Minnesota	7	0
#236	University of Nevada--Las Vegas	Nevada	10	1
#236	Kent State University at Kent	Ohio	26	3
#236	Pacific University	Oregon	9	0
#236	Portland State University	Oregon	6	0
#250	Nova Southeastern University	Florida	11	3
#250	New Mexico State University-Main Campus	New Mexico	1	0
#250	Pace University-New York	New York	14	0
#250	University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley	Texas	39	0
#262	University of Maine	Maine	7	3
#262	Andrews University	Michigan	4	1
#262	Central Michigan University	Michigan	10	0
#262	DeSales University	Pennsylvania	9	0
#262	Seattle Pacific University	Washington	3	0
#276	Harding University	Arkansas	7	1
#276	California Baptist University	California	1	0
#276	Western Michigan University	Michigan	7	1
#276	University of Missouri--St. Louis	Missouri	8	0
#276	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus	Ohio	9	1
#276	Widener University	Pennsylvania	3	0
#288	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	Illinois	2	0
#288	University of Memphis	Tennessee	5	0
#288	Texas State University	Texas	10	0
#299	Azusa Pacific University	California	6	0
#299	University of Toledo	Ohio	8	0
#308	Northern Illinois University	Illinois	12	0
#308	Oakland University	Michigan	5	0
#308	University of Southern Mississippi	Mississippi	85	0
#308	Maryville University of Saint Louis	Missouri	24	1
#308	Montana State University	Montana	3	0
#308	North Carolina Central University	North Carolina	12	0
#308	Abilene Christian University	Texas	14	0
#317	Morgan State University	Maryland	7	0
#328	Georgia Southern University	Georgia	43	0
#328	Old Dominion University	Virginia	9	0
#332	University of Lynchburg	Virginia	3	0
#342	University of Northern Colorado	Colorado	5	0
#342	Mississippi College	Mississippi	4	0
#342	Missouri State University	Missouri	4	2
#353	University of West Georgia	Georgia	21	1
#353	Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville	Illinois	5	0
#353	Plymouth State University	New Hampshire	1	0
#365	Jackson State University	Mississippi	16	0
#365	William Carey University	Mississippi	7	0
#365	Liberty University	Virginia	329	5
#376	University of Arkansas--Little Rock	Arkansas	2	0
#376	Barry University	Florida	1	0
#382	Grand Canyon University	Arizona	79	0
#382	National University	California	24	0
#382	Post University	Connecticut	15	0
#382	Wilmington University	Delaware	36	0
#382	St. Thomas University (FL)	Florida	1	0
#382	Concordia University-Chicago	Illinois	11	0
#382	National Louis University	Illinois	9	0
#382	University of New Orleans	Louisiana	7	0
#382	Northeastern State University	Oklahoma	17	0
#382	Dallas Baptist University	Texas	3	0
#382	East Texas A&M University	Texas	47	0
#382	Houston Christian University	Texas	3	0
#382	Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus	Puerto Rico	11	0
LAC #97	Lewis & Clark College	Oregon	2	0
—	South College	Tennessee	131	4
—	Purdue University Global	Indiana	95	0
—	University of Maine at Farmington	Maine	66	0
—	Humphreys University	California	49	0
—	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus	Pennsylvania	44	1
—	American College of Education	Indiana	33	0
—	Bay Path University	Massachusetts	32	0
—	Sam Houston State University	Texas	29	0
—	Northeastern University Professional Programs	Massachusetts	29	1
—	University of Wisconsin--La Crosse	Wisconsin	28	1
—	Grand Valley State University	Michigan	27	2
—	University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences	California	26	0
—	Appalachian State University	North Carolina	25	0
—	Tiffin University	Ohio	25	0
—	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	New York	23	1
—	Walden University	Minnesota	22	1
—	Saint Cloud State University	Minnesota	22	0
—	Wiley University	Texas	22	0
—	Capella University	Minnesota	22	1
—	Providence College	Rhode Island	19	1
—	Arkansas Tech University	Arkansas	18	0
—	Point Loma Nazarene University	California	16	0
—	University of West Alabama	Alabama	15	0
—	Canisius University	New York	15	7
—	SUNY Buffalo State University	New York	15	0
—	Texas A&M University-Central Texas	Texas	15	0
—	California State University-Northridge	California	14	0
—	Teachers College at Columbia University	New York	14	1
—	Immaculata University	Pennsylvania	14	0
—	Merrimack College	Massachusetts	13	0