2023 Editor’s Top Selections: The Best Organizational Leadership Master’s Degrees in the Nation

By the time you get to the point where you are considering earning a master’s degree, you’ve already learned the value of a good education – and good leadership. You’ve spent four years building your expertise with an undergraduate degree, so you have some pretty good ideas what works and what doesn’t in a university. And you have probably spent enough time working out in the real world that you have a firm idea about what exactly you need to learn to take your leadership skills to the next level.

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All that means you’re not likely to settle for second best when you step up to pursue a master’s in organizational leadership. With this list of our editors’ top choices for master’s degrees in organizational leadership studies, you don’t have to.

How Effective Leaders Are Made Through Master’s Degrees in Organizational Leadership

When you accept the premise of organizational leadership—that leaders are made, not born—then it quickly becomes clear how important your education will be to your development as a leader. The course of instruction, the instructors themselves, and the support and assistance you receive along the way are vital to developing effective organizational leadership skills.

The master’s level is the ultimate forge for the future leaders in almost every industry.

So your master’s degree is your make-or-break shot to get the kind of training that will shape you into the visionary leader you know you can be.

This select list of outstanding MOL, MSOL, MAOL, and similar programs is full of excellent choices for that training. These schools have been forging new ground in leadership studies and developing organizational leaders for all kinds of different industries.

The degree titles don’t always say “organizational leadership” on the label, but you can be assured that their methods and theory line up with the highest standards in the field.

How We Picked Out The Finest Master’s Degrees in Organizational Leadership

It wasn’t easy sorting through all the different master’s-level programs in organizational leadership and picking the cream of the crop. Not only are there many excellent schools out there teaching in the field, but a real apples-to-apples evaluation is almost impossible due to the wide variety of OL focus areas.

Stacking a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management and Leadership up against a Master of Education in Leadership and Organizational Performance doesn’t make for a lot of point-by-point comparisons. In fact, for each of those degrees to be at the top of their game in their field, they just about have to be different.

So we went back to the basics. To determine the top schools offering organizational leadership degrees in any area, we took a look at the core aspects of leadership education that have been tested by time and proven under pressure. Those include:

First-rate Faculty With Academic and Industry Credentials

An excellent master’s degree program really begins with high-quality faculty teaching it. At this level, you operate in something closer to a partnership with your professors. The one-on-one mentorship and the small, seminar-style courses that revolve around discussion and exploration require teachers who have the same interpersonal skills as great leaders.

Many of these instructors have in fact been leaders themselves, working in the private sector or with non-profit or government agencies before entering the academic world. That means they have the real world experience to go with their scholarly expertise. And it means you can learn everything you need to about leadership in their classrooms.

Strong Community and Business Connections

No matter what the focus of your master’s in organizational leadership, you will always benefit from having more exposure to the actual organizations that are active in the field today. Whether it’s class projects that happen with the cooperation of outside organizations, or internships in companies that are getting the job done in your field, that kind of real-world experience can make or break your resume.

Each of these schools has cultivated strong ties to business or other groups that operate in the fields that they concentrate in. Not only does this open up your experience dealing with real-world leadership problems, but it also helps you build up your personal network. And that will pay dividends over the course of your entire career.

A Strong Reputation for Academic and Leadership Excellence

When a school is particularly outstanding for turning out future leaders, you better believe that the outside world knows about it. Think about the names you hear over and over again when Fortune 500 CEOs and powerful politicians mention where they went to school—those same colleges keep coming up for a reason.

So it’s no secret in the industry who is training the best leaders, and that’s something we considered when picking the top schools in organizational leadership today. These universities regularly turn up in lists by big-time evaluating bodies like U.S. News & World Report or Forbes. And they make employers sit up and take note when they see the name on your resume—always a good sign.

Support and Resources for In-depth Research and Study

When you get to the master’s degree level, a lot of your studies in organizational leadership are going to involve breaking new theoretical ground. You’ll be expected to complete either a master’s thesis or a capstone project. Either one involves a lot of digging in and investigating academic reports, case studies, and often conducting real-world experimentation and observation.

All of that gets easier at a school that offers the right kind of academic resources to fuel organizational leadership investigations. All of these schools fit the bill—extensive libraries, strong research programs, and faculty and staff who can support your innovations and ideas.

Academic Advising and Career Services to Launch Your Leadership Journey

Support for organizational leadership students shouldn’t just begin and end in the world of research and theory, however. These schools also understand that leaders don’t get to the top alone. They give you the kind of advising and academic counseling support that you might need to clear any hurdles along the way.

They also understand that navigating the job market as someone with a master’s degree is a new experience. They offer career counseling and advising services to help you make the most of your new credentials, whether in climbing the ranks at your current organization, or exploring all the options available elsewhere in your industry.

Finding Excellence in Organizational Leadership Education Requires Some Personal Choices

Even though every program here is a worthy choice for future leaders, it’s clear that some of them represent a better fit for your personal plans and career goals than others. Just the range of concentrations offered by a particular program may rule it in or out for you.

On top of that, there is a lot of room for personal preference in the pursuit of academic excellence. Everything from location to classmates to elective choices can make any given program a perfect fit for you, but not quite so well-tailored for someone else.

So we also offer up all kinds of additional information about the programs to help you narrow your selection. You’ll find important basic data points, including: