Department of
Educational Leadership
Minnesota State
University, Mankato
115 Armstrong Hall
Mankato, Minnesota 56001
Phone: (507) 389-1116
Fax: (507) 389-5863
Interested students make application to the Graduate College of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Once all application materials have been collected by the Graduate College, the application is forwarded to the Coordinator of the Experiential Education program for acceptance approval. The department will send you a letter informing you of your acceptance and your assigned advisor. Once you have been accepted, it is imperative that you make personal contact with one of the faculty members in the Department of Educational Leadership. This is in order to begin to outline an individualized program for you. Unlike many graduate programs, we do not turn out a "standard product." Therefore, the personal contact is vital.
You can begin the program during any semester of the academic year, including summer school.
You need not be in Mankato to register for credit. Registration for all semesters are available online. The registration process and important dates are available at the Registrar's website.
This is a question that can only be answered individually. Generally, credit is granted for new learning experiences that are personally and professionally relevant to the career goals of the individual. Credit is not granted for experiences that you have done before or that were undertaken before acceptance into the program. However, most new experiences that are connected with your personal and professional growth can generate credit.
A maximum of 10 semester graduate credits, all of which must be related to the program (with a grade of "B" or better), may be transferred from other appropriately accredited colleges or universities. With adequate pre–planning, a maximum of 16 semester credits of appropriate graduate credit may be transferred from other Minnesota state universities (Bemidji, Moorhead, Southwest, St. Cloud, Winona, Metropolitan) and applied to a program at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
The M.S. degree consists of 34 credits. At a minimum, Experiential Education students are required to take three "seat time" graduate courses or seminars anywhere within the Educational Leadership Department. These three courses can come from Experiential Education, Educational Leadership (K–12) or Educational Leadership. Courses can be taken on campus or through MSU's Extended Learning at off–campus sites. These three courses or seminars will constitute the core requirement for the Experiential Education Master's program.
Neither the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) nor the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) is required for admission.
We never know very far in advance about funding for our graduate assistantships, but we have been approved to offer at least one position for the past several years. We usually complete our hiring process in April of each year for the following Fall semester. Application forms for graduate assistantships will be found on the Graduate Studies website. As a graduate student, you may also be eligible for other forms of financial aid. Contact the Financial Aid Office directly (507-389-1866 or 1-800-722-0544) for more information.
We do not offer technical skills training on campus. Students who want to improve their technical skills have several options to earn credit for internships and other skills training. Your advisor can help identify some of these options for you. We strongly encourage individuals to set their own internship possibilities.
Since our program is so individually tailored, it is impossible to give a definite answer to this question. However, our graduates are among the national leaders in experiential education. Some own and operate their own programs. Others are in public schools or university positions. Others are working for various non–profit, for profit, or privately–operated experiential education programs. The time and effort you invest in your independent learning experiences often leads into full time jobs upon completion of the degree. Your marketability is ultimately determined by the degree of creativity and excellence you display while in the program.
Graduates of the Experiential Education Master's degree at Minnesota State, Mankato have experienced a high admission rate into doctoral programs. A partial list of universities that our students have attended for doctoral work include: University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Harvard University, University of Washington, The Union Institute, University of Virginia and others.
Absolutely!! Although our historical roots are in outdoors settings, we feel strongly that experiential education is much more widely applicable than just in the out–of–doors setting. Again, the individual emphasis of our program ensures the ability to meet diverse student needs.
Yes!! It is the student's responsibility to know all pertinent Graduate College policies. These can be found in the Graduate Bulletin and in the Online New Student Orientation.
