The Programs

Biology (MS)

Biology (MS)

Visit Website »Graduate students in the Master of Science program in Biology at Humboldt State can choose to pursue investigations with an emphasis in the laboratory, forests, marine habitats, or a variety of other settings. This northernmost campus of the California State University is surrounded by ancient redwood forests, fir and pine forests, nearby marine and freshwater habitats, and is within easy driving distance of many national, state, and regional parks. Students can study living processes at all levels, from cellular-molecular to ecosystems.

Features

Diverse faculty committed to undergraduate education and mentorship.

Low student-to-faculty ratio.

Wide-ranging courses and opportunities, including numerous specialized topics.

Emphasis on hands-on learning.

Excellent facilities available, including the Telonicher Marine Laboratory; ocean-going research vessel, The Coral Sea; Biotechnology Laboratory; Greenhouses; Vertebrate Museum; Herbarium; Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopes; HSU Natural History Museum; and the Biotechnology Core Facility.

Outstanding natural environments including ocean and estuarine areas, undeveloped coastal dunes, redwood forests, alpine and subalpine forests, and numerous state and national parks and forests.

Rigorous coursework designed to prepare students for active careers and graduate study.

Business (MBA)

Business (MBA)

Visit Website »The MBA curriculum provides students with the tools for solving problems and making decisions within the framework of a strategic plan. The MBA is designed not only to impart the traditional knowledge of accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing but also to equip graduates with the foundation for effective team building, quantitative and qualitative decision making, and creative problem solving.

We designed the one-year MBA program for students from disciplines other than business administration such as biology, engineering, art, psychology, and natural resources. The MBA allows students to manage in a variety of profit and non-profit organizations. The MBA provides a solid qualification in business management for those who either seek a new job, want to improve their career prospects, or are interested in setting up a business of their own. MBA courses are wide-ranging in content, covering essential areas of knowledge and skills required in the competitive business environment of today.

Education (MA)

Adapted Physical Education, Administrative Services, Elementary Education, School Psychology-PPS, Secondary Education, Special Education

Education (MA)

Visit Website »Humboldt State University has a long tradition of teacher education dating back to 1914, when it first opened as a Normal School. Over the years, Humboldt has prepared many of the teachers of this region while developing a reputation for innovation and close cooperation with local school districts. One of every seven Humboldt students is involved in some phase of teacher education (including undergraduate preparatory programs).

Humboldt's teacher education programs enjoy positive working relationships with the local schools that accommodate credential candidates from year to year. With the cooperative efforts of supportive school administrators, excellent mentor teachers, university professors, and university supervisors, candidates receive the individual attention that makes their credential-year experiences most rewarding.

In addition to the Minor and Masters of Arts degrees, Education contains the following programs:

Elementary Education

  • Preliminary and Professional Clear Credentials in Multiple Subjects

See also:

  • Liberal Studies/Elementary Education
  • Child Development/Elementary Education

Secondary Education

Preliminary & Professional Clear Credentials in the following Single Subjects:

  • Art Education
  • Business Education
  • English/Language Arts Education
  • French Education
  • German Education
  • Applied Technology Education
  • Mathematics Education
  • Music Education
  • Physical Education
  • Science Education (Biology, Chemistry, Geoscience, or Physics)
  • Social Science Education
  • Spanish Education

Special Education

  • Preliminary Level I Education Specialist Credential in Mild/Moderate Disabilities
  • Professional Clear Level II Education Specialist Credential in Mild/Moderate Disabilities
  • Preliminary Level I Education Specialist Credential in Moderate/Severe Disabilities
  • Professional Clear Level II Education Specialist Credential in Moderate/Severe Disabilities

Administrative Services

  • Level I Preliminary Administrative Services Credential
  • Level II Professional Clear Administrative Services Credential
English (MA)

Literature, Peace Corps/International, Teaching of Writing

English (MA)

Literature

Visit Website »The literature emphasis aims to develop advanced skills in critical reading, writing, and research. Small-group seminars (no more than 18 students to a class) help to deepen understanding of British and American literature and language and are organized around major figures, trends, genres, or approaches to literary texts. Department-sponsored colloquia held throughout the year introduce new theories of critical interpretation. Ample elective units make filling gaps in literary knowledge possible through advanced undergraduate coursework.

PEACE CORPS/TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Visit Website »This joint venture between HSU and the Peace Corps was inaugurated in October 2000. The program offers students the chance to combine academic course work with practical field experience in a foreign country. Students will take one year of courses and during that time apply to the Peace Corps. If accepted by the Peace Corps, students will complete approximately 12 weeks of pre-service training. Upon successfully completing the training, students will become Peace Corps volunteers and begin a two-year tour of service in their country of assignment. After returning to the U.S., students will complete another semester of academic work and write a master's project based on their field experience abroad. Students will then have earned a Master of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in teaching English as a second language.

TEACHING OF WRITING

Visit Website »The core of the teaching of writing curriculum is a series of graduate courses and seminars devoted to theories and methods of teaching composition. Students in this emphasis investigate ways of learning to write and rhetorical and linguistic approaches to the teaching of writing. In addition, students improve their own writing skills through a writing workshop and by working on a project directed by a faculty advisor. The Teaching Writing Emphasis is not a program designed to develop writers of fiction and poetry; in other words, it is not an M.F.A. program in creative writing. It is designed to prepare teachers of all kinds of writing, creative and expository.

Environment & Community (MA)

Environment & Community (MA)

Visit Website »The graduate program in Environment and Community is a two-year interdisciplinary Master of Arts (M.A.) in Social Sciences. The mission of the Environment and Community program is to prepare students to understand the relationship between communities and their environment, to analyze environment-community issues at different scales, and to act effectively in situations where values and interests diverge.

Environmental Systems (MS)

Energy Technology & Policy, Environmental Resources Engineering, Geology, Math Modeling

Environmental Systems (MS)

The graduate program in Environmental Systems at Humboldt State University is unique in combining studies in Environmental Resources Engineering, Geology, Energy Technology and Policy, and Mathematical Modeling within a single graduate program.

Graduate studies in environmental systems are devoted to providing a solid scientific foundation for the study of environmental problems or the management of the environment. While it is designed to provide an in-depth understanding of the student's particular area of emphasis, it is also intended to develop in the students an appreciation for the interdisciplinary character of any environmental systems.

The curriculum normally requires two years for completion and includes a thesis or project, depending on the option, as part of the student's program of studies. A candidate for the degree is required to consult with an appropriate faculty advisor and then to prepare an individual program of study that must be approved by a faculty graduate committee. The student must choose one of the four options listed above.

Kinesiology (MS)

Exercise Science, Teaching/Coaching

Kinesiology (MS)

Visit Website »We offer a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology with thesis and publication submission option. Our program's blend of engaged faculty, practical hands-on learning, and cutting-edge facilities will prepare the student to succeed in a variety of rewarding careers! The Master of Science Degree in Kinesiology offers two areas of specialization:

  • Exercise Science
  • Teaching/Coaching
Natural Resources (MS)

Environmental & Natural Resources Sciences, Fisheries, Forestry, Watershed & Wildland Sciences, Wildlife
Member Western Regional Graduate Program

Natural Resources (MS)

Environmental & Natural Resources Sciences(MS)

Visit Website »The Environmental & Natural Resources Sciences option of the Natural Resources graduate program is oriented toward ecological restoration, environmental analysis and land use planning, recreational uses of natural resources, and application of spatial analysis technologies including GIS and remote sensing.

Fisheries

Visit Website »Humboldt State University offers a Masters degree with a Fisheries option under the Natural Resources Graduate Program. Typically, graduate students are enrolled for at least four semesters of coursework. Successful completion of a thesis and thesis defense are required for the Fisheries Master of Science degree.

Forestry, Watershed & Wildland Sciences (MS)

Visit Website »Graduate studies in Forest, Watershed, & Wildland Sciences are oriented toward generating a greater understanding of the ecology and management of forests, rangelands, and the soils and watersheds that support them. Graduate research is focused on a wide variety of topics, including forest ecology, fire science, forest growth and dynamics, forest operations analysis, watershed processes, rangeland ecology soil science, and integrative analyses across these areas.

Wildlife

Visit Website »Humboldt State's Wildlife Master's program is an option within the Natural Resource Master's Program. For information about application procedures for the program, see the general guidelines for graduate school admission. Prospective master's students are encouraged to contact individual wildlife faculty members as potential graduate advisors. The following is a current description of requirements for successful completion of master of science degree in Natural Resources (Wildlife option).

Psychology (MA)

Academic Research, Counseling Psychology, School Psychology.

Psychology (MA)

Visite Webiste »The department has three active graduate programs in psychology: the Academic Research Fifth Year MA Program, the MA Program in School Psychology and the MA Program in Counseling Psychology.

These graduate programs lead to a Master's degree in Psychology, with the School Psychology program also leading to a California Credential as a School Psychologist in California, and the Counseling Psychology program meeting the academic requirements for a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in California. The Fifth Year MA Program includes options in Social and Environmental Psychology, Biological Psychology and Developmental Psychopathology

A number of facilities and department resources support these programs, including the Student and Community Counseling Clinic and the Department of Psychology Test Library, in addition to school and community based settings and resources that provide students with training experiences.

Social Work (MSW)

On Campus, Online

Social Work (MSW)

Visit Website »At Humboldt State, you'll take what you learn in the classroom and put it to work in the real world—applying your new skills in diverse settings, ranging from small non-profit agencies, tribal social services, large public organizations, and international programs. Our students form lasting partnerships with faculty and our professors are committed to student development. We recognize that people who join us are much more than university students and that all of us are members of a community. The relational quality between students and faculty reflects a mutual learning and educational process. The faculty is dedicated to the well being of students based on caring and compassion.

Social Work at Humboldt is a professional preparation program rooted in the liberal arts. It prepares its graduates for practice as social work generalists. This means students are provided the knowledge, values, and skills to work with people from diverse cultural, ethnic, and personal backgrounds in individual, family, organizational, community-based, and policy contexts. The undergraduate and graduate social work programs at Humboldt State are fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

We value an educational approach that emphasizes critical reflection, ethical behavior, the development of human potential, and peaceful resolution of conflicts. The Department supports progressive practice that is based on peace, justice, experimentation, risk taking, inclusiveness, partnership, non-expert paradigms of relationships, and a belief in the uniqueness of each student's own professional goals and vision.

The mission of the Master of Social Work (MSW) program is to prepare students for advanced generalist social work practice responsive to the challenges and resources present in rural areas in general and indigenous communities in particular, and to present local historical and contemporary social issues within a global perspective.

Social work students have the opportunity to work with agencies and communities through a highly individualized field experience program. Students find this helpful in building skills and obtaining jobs following graduation. Emphasis is on the utilization of community resources and provision of service intervention in small town and rural areas.

Sociology (MA)

Sociology (MA)

Visit Website »How can I make a difference in the world? Why do some groups of people have many opportunities – and others struggle to make it? Where do I start if I want to effect social change?

These are the questions that catch the attention of students in Introductory Sociology classrooms and carry them through a major in the field. Sociology guides students in making connections between their own individual experiences and the interactions and social structures that shape those experiences.

Sociology students study patterns in interactions, experiences and life outcomes – particularly as they relate to group membership. For example, fathers in the United States are more likely to actively participate in day-to-day parenting than they did 50 years ago. In explaining these changes, and in identifying structural changes needed to bring about different social arrangements, sociologists study race, social class and gender. Sociologists also consider culture, social movements, globalization, deviance and crime against communities and their environments. Few disciplines have such broad scope and relevance. Indeed, sociology seems to offer something for everyone who is anxious to understand the web and rhythm of human behavior.

A career in sociology could include an academic career, but most students of Sociology are employed outside of education. They work in every sector: government, non-profit, research and business. Society is increasingly in need of people who can understand the complexities of a multicultural society. Sociology graduates offer a unique understanding of the social world and possible social solutions to major social issues, as well as the day-to-day issues faced by every organization.

Join us and develop your sociological perspective – then lead the change!

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