Earn a master's in management at home, focused on promoting workplace growth, creativity, and innovation.
Being a manager who confidently leads organizations and motivates people—the kind companies want to hire and employees want to work for—takes skill and practice. If you have your sights set on an influential management role in business, government, startups, or nonprofits, earning your master's in management and leadership is a great place to start.
WGU's Master of Science in Management and Leadership is designed to prepare you for your next big career move. You'll develop the comprehensive managerial and leadership skills you need to execute organizational change, drive strategic initiatives, and develop high-performance teams—the qualifications today's employers are actively looking for in candidates to fill the top levels of leadership.
62% of graduates finish within
18 months
WGU lets you move more quickly through material you already know and advance as soon as you're ready. The result: You may finish faster.
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Tuition per 6-month term is
$4,180
Tuition charged per term—rather than per credit—helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees. Finish faster, pay less!
See how time is money
Average salary increase
$10,500
M.S. Leadership and Management graduates report an average salary increase of $10,500 after completing their WGU degree.
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Climb the ladder to success. Earn your business leadership degree online.
Business. Government. Nonprofit. Startup. With the right knowledge and experience, you can drive your career toward executive-level organizational leadership in any direction you choose. Once you’ve learned how to promote growth, creativity, and innovation in an increasingly complex work environment, you will be sought after as a manager, director, vice president, or even a member of the c-suite.
Curriculum offering a mix of business acumen, organizational management, and people leadership.
WGU's master’s in management and leadership is an affordable, online program geared to the career goals of experienced business professionals ready to pursue an executive-level leadership position. You will build finely tuned skills in strategic planning and problem solving—preparing you for opportunities to manage an organization and lead its employees toward greater success.
To ensure WGU graduates acquire the knowledge and skills sought by employers, our Master’s in Management and Leadership was developed with significant input from experts and business leaders who serve on our Business Program Council.
Key Subject Areas
Your program consists of courses focused on business function, leadership, and management, including:
Managing Organizations and Leading People
Managing Human Capital
Management Communication
Becoming an Effective Leader
Leading Teams
Ethical Leadership
Business Acumen
Change Management and Innovation
Strategic Management
Management and Leadership Capstone
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Areas of Study
The competencies you gain through this program will span these crucial topical areas:
The WGU Difference
We reimagined the path to a degree. How it works for you:
It’s doable. Efficient, flexible, individualized, and supportive, WGU puts you in the driver’s seat—allowing you to advance as quickly as you're able.It’s surprisingly affordable. Low, flat-rate tuition and the opportunity to speed up your program allow you to control the cost of your education.It’s worth it. Employers love WGU graduates. And grads report greater satisfaction, career advancement, and income growth after earning a WGU degree.
See how we do it
A supported, personalized experience.
WGU is unlike any university you’ve experienced before—in the best possible way! Take a look at what we mean:
Faculty
Learning
Assessment
Capstone
Alumni Support
Faculty
SUPPORTING YOU:
An entire team of faculty members has one goal in mind: your success. Your Program Mentor is your individually assigned faculty member, providing regular program guidance and instruction from the day you start, to the day you graduate. In addition, Course Instructors provide regular, subject-matter instruction and support, typically one-on-one, throughout each course you take.
Learning
Establish YOUR ROADMAP: A personalized learning plan.
Your program is made up of a series of courses, each a personalized journey toward subject mastery. A preassessment provides insight into what you already know. You’ll then learn what you still need to learn, using online learning resources—available 24/7—along with one-on-one or cohort-based faculty instruction.
Assessment
Learn it, PROVE IT: Show you know your stuff.
WGU measures learning, not time, so each course in your program culminates in an assessment—a test, paper, project, or presentation that allows you to prove what you know. As soon as you’re ready, you take the assessment—including the ability to take proctored exams from the comfort of your own home— via webcam, any time of day!
Capstone
Apply it to the REAL WORLD: You’ll solve a problem.
Throughout your program, you will focus on acquiring and proving specific competencies. At program’s end, you’ll complete a final capstone project that allows you to show off everything you’ve learned by proposing a solution to a relevant issue in your industry. Your mentor can help you select your capstone topic.
Alumni Support
Once you're a WGU Night Owl, you're ALWAYS a Night Owl.
Continued support after you graduate includes many opportunities for professional development and enrichment, career support, and networking. WGU Night Owls may be independent learners, but they also become highly engaged in our active alumni community through apps, groups, and in-person events.
The accreditation you need, plus industry respect and recognition.
One important measure of a degree’s value is the reputation of the university where it was earned. When employers, industry leaders, and academic experts hold your alma mater in high esteem, you reap the benefits of that respect. WGU is a pioneer in reinventing higher education for the 21st century, and our quality has been recognized.
Accredited
In addition to WGU's regional accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, WGU's College of Business programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).
Respected
“I’m impressed by the results in places like Western Governors University. Its low-cost online programs rely on competency-based progression, not class time or credit hours. It uses external assessments to evaluate student proficiency.”
Bill Gates
Recognized
Every student in WGU's HR program is eligible to join our online SHRM virtual student chapter. This organization helps students continue their education and networking with the HR field through events, presentations, and other resources.
Our programs check all the boxes. If this degree is your goal, get started toward becoming a student today—programs start the first of each month.
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