Applied Professional Studies (MA)

The Master of Arts Program in Applied Professional Studies (MAAPS), founded in 1984, serves adults who wish to design and execute their graduate study in a personally-relevant area that is otherwise not served by typical course-based, already-structured programs. These “entrepreneurial learners” come with a personal/professional area of study they want to pursue, a desire to build and manage their own learning processes, and a goal to both learn and shape their learning into contributions that make a difference.

Key Features

1. You design your own area of study (an area of professional contribution in a particular setting) guided by a graduate framework. Your idea; your design. 
2. You learn to think in terms of learning for both intentional outcomes and timely applications. 
3. You build a plan for learning that incorporates an array of learning strategies (not just classes!)—strategies that fit your sought outcomes and learning preferences and result in products you can use. 
4. You manage the pace, place and process of implementing your plan. 
5. You receive assistance from a team of advisors from the University as well as your own particular professional community. 
6. You engage in a brief/intensive series of “liberal learning” seminars designed to rekindle and/or deepen your practice in areas of inquiry, change, interpersonal communication, diversity, ethical reasoning and leadership. 
7. You accomplish your goal of graduate study—focusing on an area of importance to you and earning an accredited graduate degree with competencies endorsed by the University.