Master of Science in Native American Leadership Online

This online M.S. in NAL program is developed by tribal leaders and can help you strengthen the Native community, connect to cultural heritage, and become a leader who supports the tribal nations.

Next Apply Date: 4/22/24
Next Class Start Date: 5/6/24
Apply Now

Program Overview

Get to know our online Master of Science in Native American Leadership program

The Master of Science in Native American Leadership online program at Southeastern Oklahoma State University is a leadership-focused degree program that is designed to equip you with culturally relevant knowledge and skills.

Whether you are seeking to advance your career within the tribe or looking to develop business relationships with tribal nations, this 100% online program prepares you for leadership. The distinctive curriculum is designed by tribal leaders and covers historical, cultural and regulatory factors affecting business and leadership within the native community.

This degree program highlights leadership-related skills like communication, presentations, critical thinking and problem-solving. Additionally, you will gain an understanding of the complex culture and history influencing modern Native American communities.

As a graduate of this M.S. in NAL program, you will be prepared for higher-level roles, such as:

  • Tribal Government Roles
  • Tribal Affairs
  • Corporate Compliance Roles
  • Human Resources Management
  • Non-profit Program Management
  • Hospitality Management
  • Gaming Manager or Supervisor
  • Industrial Services
  • Technology Industry
  • Tribal Government Roles
  • Tribal Affairs
  • Corporate Compliance Roles
  • Human Resources Management
  • Non-profit Program Management
  • Hospitality Management
  • Gaming Manager or Supervisor
  • Industrial Services
  • Technology Industry

Also available:

Southeastern Oklahoma State University offers a broad range of Native American Leadership degrees. Explore our online NAL programs.

Total Tuition, Including Fees $10,410*
Duration As few as 12 months
Credit Hours 30
Apply Now

Need More Information?

Call 844-515-9100

Call 844-515-9100

Learn about leadership from a tribal perspective

Hear what Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Chief Gary Batton and others have to say about this unique program.

Tuition

Learn more about our affordable tuition

SOSU is committed to providing an outstanding education that is also affordable. Tuition is structured to give our students the best value and flexibility.

Tuition breakdown:

Total Tuition $10,410*
Per Credit Hour $347

“This graduate program, being online, worked for me. A lot of times, I work more than 40 hours a week—plus, I travel... I can do this at my own pace.”

Robin Counce

Director of Career Development at Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and M.S. NAL student

“I felt like it was actually more one-on-one than if I was in a physical classroom setting.”

Jody Nelson

Senior Director of Human Resources at Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, MBA and M.S. in NAL student

Southeastern alumni Julia Boyd

“I delved deeper into my culture, my ancestry, and learned a lot that I did not know... It makes me proud that we have come as far as we have as a tribe, overcoming much adversity to get to where we are today—and that makes me so proud that I'm a member of the Choctaw Nation.”

Julia Boyd

MBA and M.S. in NAL student

Calendar

Discover the milestones that will guide your student journey

At SOSU, we offer multiple start dates throughout the year so you never have to wait long to get started on your online degree program. The chart below shows upcoming start dates, along with important deadlines, such as when your application should be submitted and when payments are due.

8 week coursesProgram Start DateApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlineRegistration DeadlineTuition DeadlineLast Class Day
Spring II3/4/242/19/242/19/243/1/244/17/244/28/24
Summer I5/6/244/22/244/22/245/3/245/28/246/23/24
Summer II6/24/246/10/246/10/246/21/247/26/248/11/24
Fall I8/19/248/5/248/5/248/16/249/27/2410/6/24
Fall II10/14/249/30/249/30/2410/11/2411/12/2412/8/24

Now enrolling:

Apply Date 4/22/24
Class Starts 5/6/24

Have questions or need more information about our online programs?

Ready to take the rewarding path toward earning your degree online?

Admissions

Follow our streamlined admission requirements

Southeastern Oklahoma State University's online M.S. in Native American Leadership program has specific requirements that applicants must meet to enroll. Please read the admission guidelines to ensure you qualify.

  • Online Application
  • Bachelor's Degree
  • Minimum 2.0 GPA
  • No GRE or GMAT required

If you have any special circumstances that need further clarification, please contact us at 844-515-9100.

To meet the admission requirements for the M.S. in Native American Leadership online program, applicants must meet one of the following criteria:

  • Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited university with a minimum 2.75 overall GPA or minimum 3.0 GPA in the last 60 hours of courses, or
  • Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited university with a minimum 2.0 overall GPA and a current resume demonstrating two years of experience in the field of study that must be reviewed and approved by program coordinator
  • Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited university and at least 6 hours in a graduate program from a regionally accredited university with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and must be in good standing at previous university.
  • No GRE is required for Southeastern Oklahoma State University online M.S.-NAL programs.
  • The M.S. in Native American Leadership degree online at SOSU allows a maximum of nine credit hours that can be transferred from another program with approval from the program coordinator.
  • There is a non-refundable $30 application fee for both domestic and international students.

International Application and Admissions Requirements: Please note, unfortunately, students with an F-1 visa are ineligible for online programs.

  1. Complete the application.
  2. Academic Records:
    • Original final post-secondary transcript(s) from each college or university attended within the United States.
    • Post-secondary records from outside the U.S. must be course-by-course analyzed by a NACES (www.NACES.org) educational credential evaluation service such as IERF or WES or ECE.
  3. English Proficiency: Internet-based TOEFL score of 79 or an IELTS Academic score of 6.5; taken within 2 years of enrollment.
    • For TOEFL, have your score report sent to Southeastern (institution code: 6657).
    • For IELTS, let us know your TRF number.
    • You do not need TOEFL or IELTS scores if you meet one of the following:
      • English is your first language from a country whose official language is English
      • You have a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university
      • You have a bachelor’s degree from an English speaking country

Official sealed transcripts from all previous institutions should be sent to Southeastern Oklahoma State University:

Southeastern Oklahoma State University/Registrar
425 W. University Blvd.
Durant, OK 74701-3347

Email: [email protected]

Courses

See what you'll learn in your online Native American Leadership courses

For the M.S. in Native American Leadership online, students must complete 10 courses for a total of 30 credit hours.

NAL 5970 is an optional course that may replace any of the other courses (approval required).
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines different types of leadership styles and provides an introduction to the different frames in which leaders can view behaviors and responses within an organizational context. The course will pay special attention to a student's individual assessment of their personal leadership style, the role of self-care in leading, and gender differences in leadership. The structural, political, human resources, and symbolic frames and the impact those frames have on organizations will be examined. The course will also compare and contrast native leadership styles with styles more closely associated with Western culture.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course covers issues involved in multicultural organizations, including developing consensus within the organization for valuing diversity, relationship building, communicating across cultures, and managing people of different genders, races and cultures with an emphasis on diversity as it pertains to Native American people in the workforce. Issues of stereotype, bias and resistance are examined from both a personal and an organizational perspective with an emphasis on making meaningful contributions to diversity initiatives within organizations.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Leaders not only need a vision, but a way to effectively communicate that vision. This course will prepare the student for a variety of leadership roles by exploring contemporary concepts about the meanings and functions of communication and presentations in organizations. Communication styles of Native American peoples will be examined to better understand the characteristics that may include eye contact, assertiveness and body language. Students will analyze key aspects of knowing the audience, developing persuasive content, effectively using media, understanding delivery techniques, and the use of story in presentations. Students will contend with these concepts from a personal standpoint by using examples from their own experiences to apply best practices and improve their own communication and leadership skills.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines the mental activities needed to effectively formulate or solve problems, make decisions, or understand and conceptualize issues. Concepts such as free will, determinism, truth, knowing, and moral judgments will be explored and applied to the modern leader. Barriers to effective problem solving will be reviewed and, along with strategies, form improvement. Special attention will be paid to the role of creativity in the problem-solving process and the role of native culture in viewing problems.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines the development of leadership within individuals and explores the influence of leaders regardless of position. The course will pay special attention to the role of mid-level managers in tribal organizations and their ability to work both up, down and across organizational tribal structures. The challenges of balancing the needs of supervisors, subordinates, colleagues and citizens will be addressed, along with case studies exploring how leaders successfully handled challenges and crises.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The course will examine issues that directly impact the daily operations of tribal governments and the tribal members of those governments. The course will highlight areas from a broad range of topics with the understanding that these topics of interest are constantly changing and developing. Areas such as economic development, health and education, social services, culture and language, and tribal governance will be studied so to provide the students with a broad range of knowledge as the topics relate to them or their communities.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is a survey of historical and contemporary developments regarding native education. Conflicting values at a personal, tribal, state and federal level will be explored, along with the results of such governmental policies. The course will give careful examination to the Meriam Report, Kennedy Report, Indian Education Act of 1972, Johnson-O'Malley Act of 1934, No Child Left Behind, Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006, and current policy as it is developed. The course will begin with a historical perspective on Indian education prior to the arrival of Spanish and European influences.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines North American historical geography with an emphasis on the historical relationships of American Indians to place and indigenous mapping techniques, thereby allowing students to better contextualize "contemporary" issues. Generally, the course focuses on place and territorial identity in the historical and contemporary life of North American Indians and, as a result, provides insight regarding other indigenous peoples around the world. The course may touch on, but not emphasize, native themes that are not related to place. The course has four ongoing components: 1. North American historical geography, 2. Native people's "Geographies of the Homeland," 3. Historical cartography of North America, and 4. Native American treaties.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course presents an overview of major legal principles of federal Indian law, major developments in federal Indian policy, and how they have affected the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Three fundamental legal principles of federal Indian law are presented: Tribes are independent sovereign governments, separate from the states and the federal government; tribal sovereignty generally extends over a federally recognized geographic territory and over the activities and conduct of tribal and nontribal members within that territory; and tribal sovereignty is inherent and exists unless and until Congress takes it away. Court case examples illustrating these principles are used. Since questions about tribal sovereignty are often viewed as questions of the intent of Congress, acts of Congress concerning treaties, statutes and public laws are reviewed, along with court case examples. A history of federal Indian education laws and policies traces tribal control from pre-contact through federal control, state control, and finally to the return toward tribal control.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Ethnohistory is the study of ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not exist today. Ethnohistory of Native Peoples uses both historical and ethnographic data as its foundation. Its historical methods and materials go beyond the standard use of documents and manuscripts. Practitioners recognize the utility of such source material as maps, music, paintings, photography, folklore, oral tradition, site exploration, archaeological materials, museum collections, enduring customs, language, and place names. Optional Course to Replace Any of the Above Courses if Needed (Approval Required)
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Specifically for the Special Studies course, the objectives are to provide a flexible evaluation of skills needed regarding the organization and history of Native American peoples and tribes. The course may be adjusted to fit specific needs of employers and individuals pursuing the degree while remaining focused on Native American Leadership.

Choose two courses from the following:

Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Leaders not only need a vision, but a way to effectively communicate that vision. This course will prepare the student for a variety of leadership roles by exploring contemporary concepts about the meanings and functions of communication and presentations in organizations. Communication styles of Native American peoples will be examined to better understand the characteristics that may include eye contact, assertiveness and body language. Students will analyze key aspects of knowing the audience, developing persuasive content, effectively using media, understanding delivery techniques, and the use of story in presentations. Students will contend with these concepts from a personal standpoint by using examples from their own experiences to apply best practices and improve their own communication and leadership skills.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines the mental activities needed to effectively formulate or solve problems, make decisions, or understand and conceptualize issues. Concepts such as free will, determinism, truth, knowing, and moral judgments will be explored and applied to the modern leader. Barriers to effective problem solving will be reviewed and, along with strategies, form improvement. Special attention will be paid to the role of creativity in the problem-solving process and the role of native culture in viewing problems.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course presents strategies, tools, and best practices for sourcing, preparing and submitting grant request proposals to federal, foundation, and corporate grant funding agencies. Students will prepare a complete grant for a project of their choice using templates and guides provided in the course. Students may propose developing grant proposal topics related to education, housing healthcare, cultural preservation / revitalization, community development, economic development, the arts, and other Native American / Indigenous projects or programs. In addition, students will participate in a mock grant review process in order to experience conducting a formal grant review from a funders perspective and to further enhance their grant writing and analysis skills.

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