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Community Development

  4. What university or universities are you most interested in?

The online master's degree in community development offered through IDEA empowers you to be a changemaker in your community or organization. It is a diverse program that reflects the far-reaching bounds of the profession, covering a range of skill-building topics such as natural resource management, economic policy, housing, and land development planning.

Designed for the working professional looking to advance their career, the community development programs are taken entirely online and can fit seamlessly into busy schedules. We have a common price per credit hour through all universities to ensure the degree is affordable. The course selection is flexible, allowing you to tailor the degree or certificate to your professional passion.

Why Study Community Development through IDEA?

It is an ideal program if you:

  • Enjoy working with others to find solutions to local or regional problems
  • Are passionate about working in urban neighborhoods, rural areas, or tribal communities
  • Seek to better understand how global issues are tied to specific places
  • Volunteer in communities and want to be even more effective
  • Desire to lead change that improves the quality of life in communities
  • Work with communities and want to enhance your skills, knowledge, and credentials by earning a graduate degree or certificate

Hear from Morgan Holloman, a community development master's student, as she explains how the flexibility in this program allows her to complete coursework when it's convenient for her.

Program Formats in Community Development

IDEA offers both an online master's degree and a graduate certificate in community development, allowing you to select the best-fit academic path to meet your goals and advance your career.

There is no GRE requirement for application to this program.

Master's Degree in Community Development

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Graduate Certificate - Community Development

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"I have worked in the nonprofit arena for many years. The idea of returning to school for my master’s degree was daunting, especially given my typical work schedule of long and varied hours. However, knowing that I could earn my master’s degree in Community Development through IDEA and that it would fit around my work and personal needs put me at ease. Multiple times throughout my coursework I have learned a theory, process, or skill one evening, gone to work the next morning, and applied what I learned the night before in my job."
Andrew Isola, community development master's degree student, and recipient of the 2023 Student Excellence Award

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Program Outcomes in Community Development

Graduates of the community development programs are well-suited to enter impactful roles in government service, public policy, youth development, education, community advocacy, and healthcare services. In these industries, you will find yourself equipped to lead and make meaningful change in areas such as:

  • Community and regional planning
  • Economic development and entrepreneurship
  • Community health and wellness
  • Anti-poverty programs
  • Cooperative extension
  • Housing and infrastructure
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Parks and recreation
  • Natural resource management
  • Public administration
  • Applied Sociology
  • Tribal, immigrant, refugee, and youth programs

    Collaborate with Expert Faculty

    IDEA's community development faculty are leading scholar-practitioners in their field with extensive experience across specializations. Coming from different home universities, they blend perspectives and expertise with one another to create a uniquely engaging online academic experience.

    They care deeply about your success, supporting you in your pursuit of academic, personal, and professional goals. Listen as community development professor Dane Mataic shares how the curriculum in this program can be applied directly to communities where students work and live.

    The IDEA faculty helps you take applied research and theory and turn it into action, addressing structural issues in urban and rural communities of all sizes and demographic makeup. They collaborate directly with you to ensure you maximize your skillset and can in turn better, and more efficiently, help communities make continual, forward-striving progress. Learn more about how faculty and students leverage a community's assets to make change.