Podcast: Is nonprofit management the grad degree for you?
By Amy Potthast.
Right this minute, our Idealist Grad Fair season is kicking off in New York City. To celebrate, we’ve got a fresh podcast for you: a look at nonprofit management programs through the eyes of three friendly admissions counselors. The podcast comes in three bite-sized installments. Click here to learn more and listen.
With a plethora of graduate disciplines available to you—MBA, MPA, Social Work—you may be wondering, why might I go for a specialized degree in nonprofit management?
We hope this show might help answer this question. Topics include:
- Part 1: What makes a degree in nonprofit management. Amy learns that it’s a very narrowly focused degree, mostly geared towards professionals already in the sector or career changers, and it prepares students for senior leadership positions in the sector.
- Part 2: The typical coursework students will encounter, plus the option of a certificate program.
- Part 3: Admissions and financial aid. What makes the ideal applicant, and how do students pay for their degrees?
Special thanks to our panelists:
Edward Grice is the Associate Dean of the MBA program in nonprofit management at the American Jewish University. Chris Nicholson is the Director of Graduate Admissions at North Park University in Chicago, home of the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management. And Rebecca Zirm is the Director of Recruitment at the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organization and Case Western Reserve University.
Links to learn more:
- Idealist Grad Fairs feature nonprofit management, public affairs, social work and other public service degrees — and they’re touring the country all fall.
- Idealist Grad School Resource Center features an overview of the nonprofit management degree, among others.
The Nonprofit Academic Centers Council is the accrediting body for nonprofit management degree programs across the country and a resource for people seeking the degree. - Seton Hall’s Nonprofit Management resources include a great overview of nonprofit education and a listing of grad programs.
If you listen to the podcast, I’d love to hear what you think!
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Amy Potthast served as Idealist’s Director of Service and Graduate Education Programs until 2011. Read more of her work at amypotthast.com.
Tags: graduate degrees for the public good, Idealist Grad Fairs, Nonprofit Management, podcast
Here’s what I think.
If you have a podcast with only admissions directors talking about “Is a nonprofit degree worth it” then you are not going to get a balanced viewpoint.
Why not invite nonprofit bloggers and people currently employed at nonprofits to be part of the podcast?
It might invite more debate, and more comments.
I have never known a single nonprofit administrator with a master’s degree in nonprofit organizations or nonprofit management, and after 10 years in this field, there is no substitute for experience.
Furthermore, you NEVER see job descriptions asking for a degree in nonprofit management, so what does that tell you?
These degrees have started to crop up over the last five years, but frankly, you don’t need them.
Come on Idealist. Have some diversity of viewpoints, here!
Hi there,
Thanks – great feedback. Thanks for listening! I want to respond to offer a broader context for the design of the podcast you listened to.
We are launching a series of interviews with grad degree admissions folks that we’ll roll out all fall.
The rationale for these podcasts is to respond to people who’d love to — but can’t — join us at an Idealist Grad Fair where we offer panel discussions featuring admissions staff.
We have wanted to record the panels, and podcasting allows us not only to record but also to specialize on specific degree areas.
In the future we’d love to feature shows with only alums of these programs. For now:
- Many of the shows we launch will feature admissions folks who are also current or former students of the degree we’re talking about.
- Our Careers Podcast series features professionals talking about their careers. Often they have graduate school experiences, and we often chat about that on the show: http://idealist.libsyn.com/category/Idealist%20Careers
- I encourage you to read the Nonprofit Management Degree overview. The overview brings in a range of voices on the topic, including alumni who speak about the impact of their education in their work. You can download the overview from Idealist here:
http://www.idealist.org/info/GradEducation/Resources/DegreeOverviews/NonprofitManagement
Thanks again for listening. Have you gone to grad school for nonprofit management? Did you make a different choice? We’d love to learn from your experiences.
Amy