Notre Dame’s new one-year graduate business degree focuses on nonprofit leadership

The U.S. nonprofit workforce ranks third in size among the 18 major U.S. industries, behind only retail trade and manufacturing. The sector includes a dynamic array of industries, from health care and education, to social services and the arts. And many economic experts foresee strong job growth in the future, as nonprofit sector sees increasing demand for vital services.

These trends point to another burgeoning need in the sector: nonprofit leaders.

The University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business has launched a new graduate degree program designed to develop nonprofit leaders skilled in business. The Notre Dame Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA), offered by Nonprofit Professional Development at Mendoza, is a one-year, residential program intended for those desiring to enter the nonprofit sector directly out of college or a post-college nonprofit placement, such as the Peace Corps or Teach for America.

Applications for the 2019-2020 academic year are now being accepted. In addition to submitting official GRE/GMAT scores, applicants must submit an official transcript, two letters of recommendation and a résumé. Merit-based fellowships are available. An online information session will be held noon to 1 p.m. on Nov. 8. Participants can register at mendoza.nd.edu/mna-events.

“The Notre Dame MNA affords students who have a commitment to serving the nonprofit sector an opportunity to learn from world-class faculty, who provide a solid business education to prepare them to lead global nonprofit organizations,” said Angela Logan, the St. Andre Bessette Director of Nonprofit Professional Development. “Students enter the program with ‘a servant heart,’ and we believe when they graduate, they will also have ‘a business mind.’”

The residential MNA is a 36-credit-hour lockstep program. Coursework includes fundamental business disciplines such as marketing, finance, strategic management and accounting for nonprofits, as well as focused classes on business ethics, Catholic Social Teaching and innovation. Students also will complete a practicum, which involves working with a nonprofit organization for a semester in order to apply what they are learning in the classroom toward helping address the nonprofit partner’s critical needs.

The new degree is modeled after the longstanding non-residential MNA degree program, now known as the Executive MNA, which is a 42-credit hour program intended for working professionals. The EMNA requires only 10 weeks on campus over the course of two- to four summers and can be completed in 14 months to four years. The degree program was founded in 1954 by the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., making it the oldest graduate business degree at Notre Dame and one of the oldest nonprofit graduate degrees in the nation.

In addition to the residential MNA and the Executive MNA, the Nonprofit Professional Development department at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business offers nonprofit certificate programs in open-enrollment, custom and online formats.

For more information about the MNA or other nonprofit programs, contact Angela Logan, the St. Andre Bessette Director of Nonprofit Professional Development, at alogan2@nd.edu or (574) 631-7793.