Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership

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Your Journey. YourPace.

Looking for a graduate degree program that’s both affordable and designed to meet the needs of working professionals like you? Then read on to learn more about UMPI’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership degree (MAOL). Like all of our YourPace degree programs, our MAOL is built around competency-based learning, so you work at your own pace to master competencies and advance through coursework–the faster you prove your knowledge, the faster you move ahead and the more you save. All coursework is online and asynchronous and there are six start dates per year. You could earn your Master’s degree in as soon as 1 year for $13,000 or less and there’s no fee to apply!

Interested in our YourPace Undergraduate degree programs?

100% online coursework

Take your courses when and where you want with 24/7 access to our digital platform. All your study materials are embedded in the modules, so you can leave the heavy books behind.

Affordable tuition

You pay a flat rate of $2,150 per 8-week session—no matter how many courses you finish each session. Plus, there are no hidden fees or textbook costs. Earn your Master’s degree in as soon as 1 year for $13,000 or less!

Built-in Flexibility

With no weekly deadlines and 6 session starts a year, you can study when it’s convenient for you, at your speed. The faster you complete your course modules, the more time and money you save.

Career Preparation

UMPI regularly meets with employers in each sector to learn what skills they are looking for in current and new hires to ensure what you learn is relevant to workforce needs.

Real-World Application

Designed to give you a wealth of opportunities to apply real-world problem solving, our curriculum is aligned with competencies that focus on 21st century skills and expertise employers seek.

Individual Attention

We’re with you from start to finish. Stay on track with a Success Coach who will help you achieve your academic goals throughout your journey.

What is a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership?

The UMPI Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program will provide a transformational learning experience that develops resilient leaders with the creativity and innovation needed to construct purposeful and sustained change in today’s evolving world.

The program explores a multidisciplinary, organizational approach to leadership, stressing social responsibility and ethics, creativity and innovation, diversity and global mindset, dynamic communication and visioning, and most importantly, the value of the individual.  The cornerstones of the program focus on self and authentic leadership, transformational and transactional leadership, and critical thinking and data analysis which prepare students to lead organizations. MAOL students will expand their knowledge of leadership through interdisciplinary/collaborative research, and by discovering and pursuing a topic of scholarly inquiry and research while completing their capstone thesis project.

As a graduate of the program, you will:

  • Evaluate organizational dynamics in the areas of structure, behavior, culture, and their implications for leadership at various levels in order to develop an understanding of change processes and be able to think critically about obstacles to change.
  • Apply communication theory in order to effect appropriate change in a variety of leadership settings, as evidenced by expanded self-knowledge, emotional intelligence, team-behavior, cultural awareness, and systems thinking.
  • Apply systemic and sustainable solutions to complex business problems using critical thinking and applied through organizational studies and leadership conceptual frameworks and theories, particularly those exhibiting knowledge of diverse cultures, cross-cultural communication, the dynamics of privilege and oppression, and the uses of power between groups.
  • Apply adaptive leadership and entrepreneurial thinking and innovative practices to strategically navigate the complex demand of organizational environments in order to respond positively and effectively to problems in unfamiliar contexts, applying creative ideas, methods, and ways of thinking.
  • Analyze and model humanitarian values, such as being committed to social justice, engaging in social responsibility, responding to controversy with civility, and serving as positive social change agents.
  • Evaluate moral challenges facing leaders in organizations through application of a meaningful framework for ethical development and socially responsible leadership, within the context of a changing global environment.

Why a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership?

UMPI’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program develops resilient leaders with the creativity and innovation needed to construct purposeful and sustained change in today’s evolving world.  It will prepare you for career opportunities in any field.  You will learn and develop a broad range of leadership skills that are necessary in any industry. Open doors in numerous fields ranging from Education to HealthCare to Business and beyond.

25%

The increase in management level employment that will consider a Master’s as the terminal degree for a position. (According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

5th

Organizational Leadership’s ranking in the top 30 most in-demand Master’s programs in New England.

167%

The increase nationally in Organizational Leadership online degree awards for adult learners in the last five years. (According to Ruffalo Noel Levitz)

Calendar

Dates you need to know

There are six opportunities throughout the year to begin our YourPace online program. Find the start date below that works best for you and apply before the application deadline. Please note, application and document deadlines are the same. UMPI must receive all documents including official transcripts by the document deadline to be considered. Transcripts can often take 10 or more business days from the request date to be received by UMPI, please plan accordingly.

TermApp DeadlineDocument DeadlineConfirmation DeadlineRegistration DeadlineTuition DeadlineStart DateClass End DateTerm Length
Spring 202/06/2402/09/2402/16/2403/05/2403/07/2403/11/2405/03/248 weeks
Summer 104/02/2404/05/2404/12/2404/30/2405/02/2405/06/2406/28/248 weeks
Summer 206/11/2406/14/2406/21/2406/25/2406/27/2407/01/2408/23/248 weeks
Fall 107/26/2408/02/2408/09/2408/29/2408/29/2409/03/2410/25/248 weeks
Fall 209/20/2409/27/2410/04/2410/24/2410/24/2410/28/2412/20/248 weeks

YourPace is a personalized learning model developed by faculty who understand the challenges busy adults face when balancing work, family, and school. Delivered on a digital platform, our competency-based online courses are designed to leverage your previous knowledge and experience as you complete course modules aligned with a list of competencies. You advance to the next course module by demonstrating your mastery of the content—giving you the ability to earn your degree on your time, at your pace.

We’ve streamlined the admission process so it’s easy for you to get started. Here is the information you need to apply:

Admission Requirements (Graduate)

  1. The University requirement for admission to any master’s degree program is the demonstration of the completion of a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution or from a recognized foreign institution. Admission may be granted to students in the final term of their undergraduate degree. Matriculation into the program will be granted upon receipt of their officially conferred degree. Once matriculated, students will be eligible to enroll in classes.
  2. Applicants must submit an official transcript from the college or university from which their bachelor’s degree or equivalency was granted, excluding the University of Maine System (UMS) campuses. (UMS transcripts are accessible to UMPI.)
  3. Official transcripts from any institution at which you have earned graduate credit are required for credit transfer evaluation. A maximum of six credits can be applied to graduate programs. Applicants may transfer graduate-level credit, if credits meet the following requirements and have been determined to be equivalent to a degree requirement course:
    1. Graduate credits previously earned at other institutionally accredited colleges or universities;
    2. Courses have been evaluated, and recommended for graduate credit, by American Council on Education (ACE), and/or military service schools that have been evaluated by the ACE Office of Educational Credit and Credentials and recommended for graduate credit.
  4. Transcripts can be sent electronically to edocs@maine.edu or via U.S. mail to the following Address: Application Processing Center, PO Box 412, Bangor, ME 04402
  5. Applicants whose GPAs are less than 3.0 are required to submit a personal statement. The personal statement (not to exceed 500 words) should reflect the applicant’s ability to write at the graduate level, with attention to appropriate grammar, spelling, form, and structure in preparing the statement. Applicants are asked to respond to the following:
    • Explain how you will ensure your academic success in this graduate program and overcome challenges you may have experienced with your undergraduate program of studies.

International students are eligible to apply and enroll; however, an I-20 will NOT be provided as this is a fully online degree program. In addition to the standard admissions requirements, international students must also meet the additional requirements specific to international applicants.

Specific Requirements for International Students

  1. The University requires an official third-party evaluation of their transcript from a NACES or AICE approved evaluating organization. 
  2. Students who wish to have transcripts reviewed for additional transfer credits are required to provide a course-by-course official evaluation.
  3. Applicants whose primary language is not English and who have not demonstrated successful completion of undergraduate post-secondary education in the US must demonstrate proficiency in written and spoken English by submitting official results from a recognized English Language Testing System.

Only one of the following options will be accepted:

  1. Option 1: TOEFL (including the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition): Minimum score of 79 (iBT) or 550 (paper-based test)
    1. UMPI’s institution code is 3008. Please note: We accept “MyBest Scores” and evaluate these scores the same way we consider superscores for all other tests.
  2. Option 2: IELTS (including the IELTS Indicator online test) score of 6.5 or greater
  3. Option 3: PTE (Pearson Test of English) score of 53 or greater
  4. Option 4: DET (Duolingo English Test) score of 110 or greater
  5. Option 5: CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages): Completed level C1 Advanced (Certificate of Advanced English)

4. English proficiency test scores are waived only if at least one of the following is met:

  • Native speaker of English with a permanent address from one of the following countries:
    • Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Montserrat, Nauru, New Zealand, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States
  • SAT Verbal score is 550 or higher – Institution code: 3008
  • ACT English score is 24 or higher – Institution code: 3008
  • High school transcript clearly states that English is the language of instruction for all
  • Student studying in-person within the U.S. or Canada for two or more years and not in an ESL track.
  • Student has earned a grade of C- or higher in a college English Composition course at a regionally accredited U.S. institution, even if the student has not studied in the U.S. for two or more years. ACE credits will not be considered.

Six credits of appropriate graduate-level coursework may be transferred from an accredited institution, if the grades earned in such course work are “B” or better, and an official transcript received.

$2,150 Flat-rate tuition per session – no course limit

Financial aid is available in the form of loans on the FAFSA website.  UMPI school code 002033

Our innovative online courses feature 6 entry points throughout the year to get started, with accelerated, 8-week sessions. Unlike traditional degree plans that require you to stick to a rigid schedule, UMPI YourPace online courses are designed to measure your progress, not time. Our personalized, competency-based learning model empowers you to complete course modules at your pace and move on to the next in the same session. Customize your workload and earn credits faster to fit your needs and busy schedule.

UMPI YourPace Online MAOL Program Advantages

  • Affordable
    $2,150 flat-rate tuition per session—no course limit
  • Convenient
    6 sessions a year—advance at your pace
  • Efficient
    Save money, finish faster—in as few as 12 months or less*
  • 100% online
    24/7 access to coursework and resources

2023-24 Session Start Dates

  • January 16th
  • March 11th
  • May 6th
  • July 1st

Request More Information

Submit the form below, and an Enrollment Specialist will contact you to answer any questions.

YourPace Graduate Programs RFI

By submitting this form, I am providing my digital signature agreeing that University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) may email me or contact me regarding educational services by telephone and/or text message utilizing automated technology or a pre-recorded message at the telephone number(s) provided above. I understand this consent is not a condition to attend UMPI or to purchase any other goods or services.

Begin the Application Process

Start your application today!


Email us at umpi-yourpace@maine.edu

Or call 207-768-9433

for help with any questions you have.

*Tuition and fees are subject to change.

**Time to completion varies by student and is based on several factors including prior college coursework, relevant work experience, amount of time dedicated to studying, and the number of courses completed each session.