Explore detailed information about the Leadership for Organizational Change master's program, including admissions requirements, curriculum structure, research and fieldwork opportunities, financial aid, and career outcomes. This page supports informed decision-making for those pursuing advanced education.
Leadership for Organizational Change is the practice of guiding individuals, teams, and institutions through intentional transformation. This can involve identifying and analyzing root causes of systemic challenges; setting a vision; and implementing, communicating, and evaluating strategies that shift culture, structures, and practices toward outcomes that drive both human and organizational success. At its core, this kind of leadership balances strategic decision-making with inclusive engagement, ensuring that change is sustainable, mission-driven, and supportive of all stakeholders.
Learners gain a deep understanding of identity and history, sharpen skills for working across differences, and apply tools like root cause analysis to uncover and address organizational and systemic challenges. Through engagement with both scholarship and practice, students develop proven strategies for sustainable organizational change. Graduates are uniquely equipped to lead efforts that create fair, just, and high-performing environments—aligning culture, policy, and strategy to support the success of all stakeholders.
Our program is designed for leaders in all stages of their careers interested in developing the expertise to foster environments where people and organizations thrive. Student learners include recent graduates of undergraduate programs, career pivoters, and seasoned leaders across fields. The online nature of our program allows student learners to enroll while working full-time. Graduates of our program hold positions in education, human resources, philanthropy, healthcare, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and more!
Graduates of this program are prepared to lead evidence-based change in a wide range of fields. As organizations work toward building and sustaining environments that support both organizational excellence and individual well-being sectors, the demand for leaders who can integrate strategic vision with inclusive practices continues to grow. Graduates of the MS-LOC hold the following careers:
Yes! Although your interaction will not be face-to-face, we have designed the courses in such a way that you will have ample opportunities to interact with your instructors and one another. The primary means for interaction is online asynchronous discussion forums. However, some courses include optional and mandatory online synchronous learning. Many participants have noted that the online synchronous learning and asynchronous discussion forums have increased their ability to connect with classmates and unpacking challenging content.
Offering this program online allows us to create a cohort with student learners who are located across the nation, bringing nuance to exploring our purpose of designing conditions that enable sustained growth and achievement for people and organizations across the nations.
The online nature of our program allows student learners to enroll while working full-time. The MS-LOC was designed for online education, with working professionals in mind. Courses are designed to be offered one at a time during 8-week terms, with each week focused on a different module. With asynchronous content* and assignments, you get to decide how and when to engage in weekly modules based on overall deadlines and requirements. Student learners can expect to spend 5-10 hours per week per module.
* The Impact Institute (1-credit) is offered in a synchronous manner over two consecutive days.
If you think a certificate more closely matches your needs, consider the Leading Across Difference post-baccalaureate certificate (PBC). The Intercultural Leadership certificate is a stackable credential that can be applied toward a MS in Leadership for Organizational Change (MS-LOC). Upon the successful completion of the certificate, if you decide that you want to proceed with the MS-LOC, all 13 of your credits are completely transferrable. This means that when you finish your certificate, you will be just 18 credits away from a master's degree! Learn more about the Leading Across Difference PBC.
A PBC is an academic credential offered by accredited universities and colleges that requires the completion of a bachelor’s degree for admission. Our PBC in Leading Across Difference provides advanced, graduate-level coursework that can be applied toward the Master of Science in Leadership for Organizational Change program. This means it can help you build advanced knowledge and strengthen your understanding of leadership principles that center success across differences, while supporting your professional advancement.
In contrast, certificates from other institutions — such as professional organizations, training providers, continuing education programs, and even other higher education institutes — focus on specific skills or short-term training but generally do not carry academic credit that can be applied toward an advanced degree and are not an academic credential.
Yes, the MS-LOC utilizes a step-wise curriculum designed to ensure that students have mastered certain knowledge prior to progressing to the next stage of learning.
No. While participants can participate in the program from outside the US without a need for a US participant visa, since the program is entirely online, international participants are not eligible for F-1 participant visa sponsorship from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. It is important to note, the MS-LOC explores identity, history, and theory based on a U.S. context.
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