Slight change in grad school plans, where to look now?

[jrehokie]

I was pretty certain that I wanted to go into Graduate School for Higher Education Administration & Student Affairs, but over the past year I've developed new ideas of what I want to do.

I apologize in advance for the long post!

I'm still very passionate about Student Affairs & Higher Education and would still like to pursue it, but in a more specific way. I've gotten involved in a lot of extracurricular activities that involve minority student groups, education policy (regarding the achievement gap) and diversity in higher education. I've also worked with graduate students in the Sociology department in my school (specifically in Asian students and Sociology of Education). I've also worked in the admissions office in a program to recruit underrepresented minorities & low income students and also have an internship where I'll be working with high school students to prepare them for college (SAT prep, admissions, financial aid, and just personal development since they come from underserved backgrounds). While I'm still interested in Student Affairs, I've become really interested in working with these types of groups.

My ideal situation would be to be able to work in a department that caters to a diverse group of first year students from underrepresented backgrounds, minorities, etc. From there I'd like to work my way up (VP or Director of a department?) - but that's way down the line from now. This is also very specific, and I would really be happy being able to work at a university in some form of student affairs (advising, mentoring, academic support, orientation, creating student programs, etc) that could focus on working with diverse students.

I'm not quite sure if there are any graduate programs that deal specifically with this in Education and I'm not sure what exactly I should be looking for. Should I continue into a Student Affairs or Higher Ed program? Or should I be looking at programs outside of Education? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd also be happy to answer any questions, I've been rambling a little bit so this post was somewhat unorganized.

Edited March 31, 2012 by jrehokie

[DanMcD]

I think you should stick with it. With the freedom to persue research you are interested in, you can focus your work there. Plus you can do some internships with minority programs/offices, or at schools with diverse populations (plug for my alma mater-to-be UMass Boston here since its the most diverse school in new england).

That said, if you find you are more interested on the policy side rather than a program side, you could look into education policy or public policy degrees

Edited March 31, 2012 by DanMcD

[lilgreycells]

I agree with DanMcD. You could focus on either student affairs practice or higher ed for your Master's and do an internship in an office with a diversity focus. Then after working for a bit if you want to go back to school for a Ph.D. or Ed.D. (depending on the type of department you wish to lead/your goals at that point in your life) you could. That way if you need/want more of that policy perspective you could add that in with your terminal degree. I focused on student affairs practice in my Master's and will now be studying higher education through a policy lens in my doc program. Just one option.

My interests and background are actually extremely similar to yours so PM me if you want to talk further. Good luck on your planning!