Elevate Your Leadership Leadership (M.A.)

The world is searching for visionary, value-driven and competent leaders. Our program is created to equip men and women with knowledge, spiritual understanding, and skills to lead in a culturally diverse world. We passionately integrate biblical leadership principles with evidence-based leadership research and practical skill development.

Credential Type

M.A.

Major Credits Required

Duration

12-18 months (full-time), 2-3 years (part-time)

Format

Hybrid

Note

Combine online and modular courses to fit your needs

100+ Countries

Our alumni serve and lead in more than 100 countries.

100% Faith Integration

Christian values and ethics are the core of our leadership program.

100% Christ-Centered Faculty Members

Our faculty passionately combines biblical leadership, evidence-based research, and practical skill development.

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Or reach out to us anytime at graduate.admissions@wheaton.edu.

Wheaton College Graduate School Students in class

Leaders are made, not born. Why Study Leadership at Wheaton?

Leaders are made, not born. Jesus taught and developed a ragtag group of Galileans to be the change-makers and leaders in His Kingdom. The last half-century’s research provides overwhelming evidence that effective leaders have a particular mindset, behaviors, and orientation toward others that can be cultivated.

Our unique Christian leadership program combines cutting-edge research with deep biblical engagement to elevate the God-given leadership potential in you. When you graduate, you'll be ready to:

Fruitfully guide organizational strategy and manage change
Develop themselves and diversify others
Articulate and demonstrate the relationship of Christian mission and values with personal vocation
Engage critically with leadership theory and practice

Further, we have embedded our leadership education in unique contexts to equip people serving in

Nonprofits (as visionaries, staff, and administrators),
Sports Leadership (in Athletic departments and as Coaches),
Global Entrepreneurship (as entrepreneurs in their home countries and international locations),
Executive Ministry as administrators in church and ministry organizations to competently support of visionary leaders, and
Global Leadership as serving in intercultural and overseas contexts.

Discover the Organizational Leadership Certificate

The Organizational Leadership Certificate (OLC) equips marketplace, nonprofit, church, or parachurch organizational leaders with the academic, spiritual, and practical skills needed to influence and lead for Christ and His Kingdom.

Explore the Certificate

Discover the Certificate in Sports Leadership & Coaching

The Certificate in Sports Leadership & Coaching (SLC) equips Christian coaches, athletic directors, sports ministry and organizations’ leaders with the academic knowledge, spiritual understanding, and practical skills needed to influence athletes to make an impact for Christ and His Kingdom.

Explore the Certificate

Jeanne Nielson

Assistant Women's Soccer Coach, Wheaton College

“As a college soccer coach and wife of a pastor, I have found the MA in leadership at Wheaton College to be wonderfully relevant, deeply challenging, and beautifully equipping for my calling in leadership and ministry. My professors have not only been brilliant scholars, but they have sought to challenge and direct my application of the subject matter to the arena into which God has called me. I am deeply grateful for the learning, training, and equipping of this excellent program.”

Marc Antoine Vetty Koquillon

National Director, The Navigators Haiti; Director of Operations, Francophone Caribbean – The Navigators of the Caribbean

“As a current student in the M.A. in Leadership program at Wheaton, I don’t just study leadership—I live it. Each course is shaping me to lead with clarity and conviction, supported by a team that believes in my journey and wants me to succeed. The integration of theology, leadership theory, practice, and management principles equips me to bridge the gap between knowledge and real-world impact. The LEAD Program is preparing people to serve as a Christ-centered leaders who make a lasting difference.”

Sharon Geiger

Assistant General Manager at Dallas radio station KCBI

“As a ministry leader, I've been amazed how my classes have aligned with ministry situations in which I can immediately apply biblical principles and praxis in 'real time'. The opportunity to join together with other leaders from around the world, to listen and learn from one another in a variety of contexts, has been a valuable learning experience. I highly recommend the LEAD program - you won't regret the investment."

Empowered with Practical Skills

M.B.A. or M.A. in Leadership

Leading an organization requires a complex skillset that combines both hard and soft skills. Unlike a typical M.B.A. program that mostly focuses on hard skills training or leadership programs that mostly emphasize soft skills development, this Wheaton College M.A. in Leadership is designed to cultivate both hard and soft skills in a balanced way with faith and work integration in mind. You will have opportunities to learn from researchers and experienced marketplace leaders about communication, team leadership, finances, marketing, and strategic management skills.

Some of our specific evidence-based, hard-skill courses are

LEAD 615 Entrepreneurial Marketing (2).
LEAD 617 Data Analytics for Decision Making (2).
LEAD 655 Leading Effective Organization: Structural, Financial, and Legal Foundations (4).

And embedded in our concentrations, but can be taken as electives:

LEAD 621 Introduction to Nonprofits (2).
LEAD 625 Character Development and Spiritual Formation in Sports Ministry (2).
LEAD 627 Global Entrepreneurship: Launching a Missional Entrepreneurship (2).
PSYC 531 Psychology of Sports Performance and Coaching (2).
HDI 686 Fundraising in Nonprofit Organizations and Congregations (2).

Our Curriculum

The M.A. in Leadership has a set of core classes in leadership foundations, organizational and change management, financial, legal, and strategic management. You'll also take at least one class in the biblical and theological studies field and have the flexibility to choose electives that match your interests and career goals.

Please see the graduate course catalog for current requirements as well as the most up-to-date course numbers, titles, and descriptions.

Four Distinct Concentrations

Personalize Your M.A. in Leadership
This M.A. in Leadership program offers concentrations that will allow you to tailor your degree to your calling.

Global Entrepreneurship — create, scale, and lead global ventures with holistic Kingdom impact. Concentration courses include Global Entrepreneurship: Launching a Missional Enterprise, Managing for High Impact: Purpose, Planning, Operations, and Execution, and Theology of Work: Equipping God’s People to Flourish in Their Calling.
Managing Nonprofits — make a significant difference in the world by doing good. Concentration courses include Entrepreneurial Marketing, Introduction to Nonprofits, Theology of Work: Equipping God’s People to Flourish in their Calling, and Fundraising in Nonprofit Organizations and Congregations
Sports Leadership — model following Christ to influence the next generation by coaching and leading in sports. Concentration courses include: Psychology of Sports Performance and Coaching, Leading and Managing a Sports Organization, and Sports Ethics and Ministry.
Executive Ministry— serve the church, ministry, or nonprofit in an executive pastor/ministry role. Concentration courses include Gospel: Theological Perspectives on Evangelism and Renewal, Church: Movements & Models, and Culture: Emerging & Global.

See the graduate course catalog for current requirements as well as the most up-to-date course numbers, titles, and descriptions.

Sample Courses

Leadership core and electives courses include:

Organizational and Change Leadership
Leadership and Spiritual Formation
Strategic Management
Leading Effective Organizations: Structural, Financial, and Legal Foundations
Theology of Work: Equipping God’s People to Flourish in their Calling
Psychology of Sports Performance and Coaching
The Best and Worst of Christian History: Key Insights for Today’s Leaders

Our Faculty Compassionate and Intelligent Educators

Learn from researchers and experienced marketplace leaders about communication, team leadership, financial, marketing, and strategic management skills. Our faculty passionately integrate biblical leadership principles with evidence-based leadership research and practical skill development.

We are public Christians, cultivating our minds, hearts, and hands to be aligned by Christ for His Kingdom. We humbly seek to understand the whole counsel of God in the Word regarding leadership essentials that deal with issues such as teamwork, authority, motivation, security, finances, conflict, and diversity.

Rev. Dr. John Dickson, B.Th. (Hons 1), Ph.D.

Jean Kvamme Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies and Public Christianity

Robert L. Gallagher, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Intercultural Studies

Jamie Goodwin, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership

Min-Dong Paul Lee, Ph.D.

Norris A. Aldeen Professor of Business; Department Chair

Yulee Lee, Ph.D.

Guest Faculty of Litfin Divinity School - Ministry and Evangelism, M.A. in Leadership Program

Dave Pederson, Ph.D.

Guest Assistant Professor in Evangelism and Leadership

Raymond Phinney, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychology

Michelle Reyes, Ph.D.

Adjunct Instructor of Ministry and Leadership

Rob Ribbe, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Outdoor and Adventure Leadership, Program Director of Outdoor and Adventure Leadership

David Sveen, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Christian Formation & Ministry

Junias Venugopal, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Evangelism; Director of M.A. in Leadership

Investing in You

Financial Wellness

The Wheaton College Graduate School Student Financial Services team can help you understand how much your graduate studies will cost and what financial aid may be available to you.

Learn About Graduate Financial Aid

Next Steps

Interested in earning an gradate Christ-centered leadership degree? The M.A. in Leadership at Wheaton might be right for you. Request more information or start your application today.

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