A new two-year full-time program for a Master of Arts degree in higher education starts in Fall 2018 at Elon University. The new program aims to educate the next generation of institutional leaders. The program will provide students with hands-on experiences that will equip them to work for colleges and universities.

At the same time, Elon University has named Rozana Carducci as graduate director of the Master of Arts in the Higher Education program. Carducci, who holds a doctorate in higher education from the University of California in Los Angeles, joins Elon on July 1 from Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts, where she has served as assistant professor in the Department of Secondary and Higher Education.

Smith Jackson, assistant to the president and associate professor, said the program will provide a shared, integrated learning experience inside and outside the classroom with a diverse cohort of 12 students. He said Elon University’s administrators will work with students in helping them to achieve their goals in the studies of higher education.

“This newest higher education program starts small at the early stage. It is a transformative education program – teaching students about visionary leadership and equipping them with knowledge about internal academic works of higher institutions of learning," Jackson said.

He disclosed that the program includes several opportunities, naming a few such as a study abroad package designed for diversity and inclusion and the understanding of social justice and equality. He named internships and assistantship as other opportunities required for admission. 

Jackson said students will receive stipends for internships and assistantship to help them underwrite their tuition and housings. Jackson disclosed that Elon's Higher Education program will cost $14,400 per year in tuition. 

Jackson named Leo Lambert, who has concluded his service as the university’s eighth president after 19 years, and Randy Williams, associate vice president for campus engagement, as two of some key professors for the higher education program. He said Williams will teach foundational courses while Lambert will be engaged with students, helping them to achieve their goals. 

He said that students will have to acquire 36 credit hours as a major requirement for completion.