MA in Organizational Leadership (MyPath)

A Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership equips you with a versatile skill set valued across various industries. Potential career paths include:

• Leadership roles: Leading teams, departments, or entire organizations.
• Human Resources: Managing employee relations, talent acquisition, and development.
• Change management: Implementing organizational transformations and improvements.
• Consulting: Providing leadership and organizational development advice to clients.
• Non-profit management: Leading and managing non-profit organizations.
• Entrepreneurship: Starting and growing your own business.

Organizational leadership master’s graduates can work in various sectors including business, healthcare, education, government, and non-profits, focusing on improving organizational effectiveness, leading change, and enhancing employee performance.

Typically, a master’s degree translates to two years of full-time study for most students. But at UMass Global, we’ve created options for completing your competency-based MAOL more quickly!

• Generous credit transfer policy — We have a flexible transfer policy where students can bring in up to 12 transfer credits, fulfilling 4 competencies. Those with military schooling of rank E7 and above may receive 6 transfer credits toward the 12 total credits.
• Work as fast as you choose — UMass Global MyPath competency-based degrees allow students flexibility, not only in their scheduling, but in their completion. You can start any week you’re ready, and then you pay a single fee for a six-month period. In that time, you can work through as many competencies as you are comfortable with. This allows you to work faster and finish faster.

These transfer policies, along with the ability to work more quickly, allow motivated students to earn their UMass Global MyPath MA in Organizational Leadership in less than one year.

Credit Hour MAOL: This is the traditional approach where students earn credits by completing specific courses, as directed by the instructor. The number of credits required for a degree is predetermined, and students must meet specific requirements for each course.

Competency-Based MAOL: In this model (known as MyPath at UMass Global), students progress by demonstrating mastery of specific skills/competencies, rather than completing a fixed number of courses. The focus is on what the student knows and can do, not on the amount of time spent in class.

Key Differences:

In essence, a credit hour MAOL focuses on benchmarks set by the instructor and course completion, while a competency-based MAOL focuses on student achievement and mastery.

Competency-based formats are not for every student, however. To be successful in this format, students need to be self-motivated and disciplined, since there aren’t any specific deadlines set, such as homework due dates, quizzes, and the like. Some students need the structure (and corresponding set timelines) of a traditional instructor-led approach. 

That is one reason UMass Global offers its Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership in both traditional and competency-based formats. 

In UMass Global MyPath, grading is mastery-based instead of using traditional letter grades or GPA. You demonstrate what you know through applied projects, case studies, presentations, written analyses, and other real-world assessments, with faculty providing feedback and chances to revise and resubmit work as you build toward mastery.

Your transcript reflects whether you have met the required competencies in each course, using M (Mastered), WC (Withdrawn), or NS (Not Satisfied, used only while work is in progress between terms), with mastery aligned to the equivalency of a “B” level of performance.

Despite its self-paced nature, MyPath is not an isolated study model. Faculty are actively involved in evaluating your assessments, providing feedback, answering questions, and guiding your improvement over time. You also work with academic advisors and one-stop specialists who help you set goals, monitor your momentum, and make term-by-term decisions that support steady progress toward graduation.