Master of Arts in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies (Workforce Development Leadership)

Master's Master's DegreeOnline

Master of Arts in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies  
(Workforce Development Leadership)

Overview 

Workforce Development has emerged as a vibrant field in professional education and training. In educational settings, workforce development unites the activities of many units, blending academic, career and technical studies, and advising and counseling. 

The Workforce Development Leadership (WDL) program aims to develop leaders from diverse backgrounds with the skills and dispositions to successfully organize and manage workforce development programming. The program focuses on cultivating leaders who promote learning, equity, social justice, opportunity and achievement for all students. 

Benefits 

This program prepares leaders for an industry that is currently expanding rapidly as an important area of focus, in response to national attention to poverty and welfare reform alternatives. 

In this program, graduates will learn how to: 

  • Be visionary leaders and change agents  
  • Influence political, social, economic, legal and cultural contexts and affect improvement of education policies and practices  
  • Lead for equity in schools and communities  
  • Apply ethical and collaborative leadership skills to education issues 

Audience 

Our program welcomes professionals from diverse backgrounds passionate about leveraging their industry expertise to contribute to secondary and postsecondary education institutions, social services, community-based organizations, workforce development boards, workforce investment boards, and private-sector businesses.

We aim to equip participants with the necessary skills to promote excellence and leadership in workforce advocacy, policy formulation, and decision-making practices within multicultural and diverse contexts.

We also encourage current career and technical educators who aspire to foster effective change management to join us on this journey of empowerment and social justice leadership.

Structure 

While fully online, courses are approximately 25% synchronous (in real time) and 75% asynchronous (on your own schedule within a given time frame).

Fees

At Sacramento State, we strive to offer the highest quality educational programs at an affordable cost. Course fees will be increasing for new cohorts in 2025 and 2026.

The current program cost is $495 per unit or $1,485 per course. The total program cost is $14,850.

The fees for the Fall 2025 incoming cohort will be $550 per unit, or $1,650 per course, with a total program cost of $16,500.

The fees for the Fall 2026 incoming cohort will be $620 per unit, or $1,860 per course, with a total program cost of $18,600.

Please note that you pay for each course as you enroll in them; you do not need to pay for the full program costs upfront.

Application fees include the $70 non-refundable university application fee paid online through CSU Apply, and a $50 departmental fee which is paid upon formal admission to the program. Admitted students will be given instructions on how to pay the $50 departmental fee.

Post
Aref in a cap and gown at graduation

I Want to Be a Good Educational Role Model: Meet Aref Farahi

“I was in the process of completing my M.A. degree in Sociology at California State University Fullerton. However, after doing some additional research with the help of my educational counselor at CSU Fullerton, completing the WDL program helped me enhance my education and progress in the field in which I am currently working,” says Aref Farahi, a recent graduate of the Master of Arts in Workforce Development Leadership (WDL) program at Sac State’s College of Continuing Education (CCE).

Article

Nothing Can Be Changed Until It is Faced: Meet Dr. Angelo Williams

Recently named one of the Top 20 Black Change Makers by The Sacramento Bee, Dr. Angelo Williams is doing just that: creating change in Sacramento in many areas and on many levels.

Article
Group of four adult learners listen in class and take notes

Cultivating New Leaders

Workforce Development has emerged as a vibrant field in professional education and training. In educational settings, workforce development unites the activities of many units, blending academic, career and technical studies, and advising and counseling.