Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership

Why Pursue a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership?

Do you want to rise as a leader that creates meaningful change in your organization? Are you looking for new ways to frame, approach, and tackle ambiguous problems and make strategic, evidence-based decisions? Do you need to hone your leadership skills so that you can develop, coach, and lead others?

The online Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership teaches students how to effectively develop and motivate employees, solve problems, and lead and inspire others by example. In our program, students learn and apply evidence-based decision-making, assessment tools, creative problem solving, and strategic planning.

Our students are aspiring leaders and changemakers who want to lead with confidence. They believe that with effective training, proper guidance, and reflection, they can become a force for good by helping others soar.

In-Demand Leadership Skills

More and more employers are looking for leaders who have the ability to connect with people, form creative solutions, and adapt to difficult and ambiguous situations. They recognize that soft skills and traits, such as creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and time management, are vital to a leader’s success.

These skills are interwoven throughout our degree’s curriculum. Students study the principles of creativity, inclusion, talent development, and data analytics, and apply those concepts to real-world situations.

Close Faculty Mentorship

We know that our students want to grow and develop personally and professionally. We offer graduate students the online flexibility they demand with the personal touch they desire. Each student is assigned a faculty coach who will work with them throughout the program. This coach will meet one-on-one with our students each term, helping them make new connections and grow as leaders.

Our students will see and hear from their professors online, in both video lectures and occasional synchronous sessions with classmates. They will also have the opportunity to connect and engage with faculty, classmates, and other professional leaders in person during our Weekend Leadership Conference.

Degree Features

• 100% Online Curriculum : Flexible courses designed to fit students’ busy schedules.
• Comprehensive Curriculum : A strong curriculum that looks to the future, covering topics such as diversity and inclusion, evidence-based decision making, innovative training and development, and leadership coaching.
• Weekend Leadership Conference : A professional leadership conference that connects students to campus and exposes them to leadership experts, panel discussions, networking opportunities, and hands-on training experiences.

Since 1861, North Central has been a place where new ideas lead to unlimited possibilities. We’re an independent college dedicated to the power of the liberal arts and sciences to transform students into leaders both in their careers and communities. Our nearly 3,000 students study across more than 65 undergraduate and graduate programs, with their education, made richer by supportive faculty and staff, world-class facilities, and countless opportunities to learn beyond the classroom.

A College on the move

Building on the foundation of more than 150 years of excellence, North Central continues to grow with numerous new facilities, programs, and initiatives in the works.

The College opened with 40 students in a single two-story building in Plainfield, Illinois. Since then we’ve changed names twice (to North-Western, then North Central), moved once (from Plainfield to Naperville), and grown steadily (to about 3,000 students).

Over the years, thousands of dedicated students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends have helped us thrive through the toughest challenges – wars, economic crises, social upheavals, and more – and build a future brilliant with hope and promise.

We’ve met the changing needs of students from Civil War veterans to millennial entrepreneurs. And we’ve always stayed true to our heritage of moral courage and forward-thinking.

Today we’re a top-ranked private comprehensive college of the liberal arts and sciences. U.S. News & World Report counts us among “America’s Best Colleges,” one of the top six schools in the Midwest for a “strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.” Students choose from more than 55 undergraduate majors and five graduate program areas.

Although the College originally discouraged organized athletics as a distraction from weightier matters, our 26 intercollegiate sports in NCAA Division III make our athletic department the largest in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW). North Central is proud of its 32 team national championships and 123 individual national champions.

Though affiliated with the United Methodist Church, we welcome and encourage students and staff of all faiths. We are thoughtfully expanding our academic programs to respond to the needs of our ever-changing world, recently adding Middle Eastern and North African Studies, along with Arabic. And we’re transforming our facilities – most dramatically with a new interdisciplinary Science Center located at the corner of Brainard Street and Van Buren Avenue.

It’s been an amazing 150+ years. But it’s clear that the best is yet to come!