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:: Human Resource Management Degrees

Human resources is a broad field that offers employment opportunities no matter what degree level you attain.

From associate’s degrees to master’s and MBA degrees in HR, the field is rife with possibility, and there are even a number of professional certifications to help you progress in your career. In fact, Glassdoor considered HR Management one of the top five careers in their Best Jobs in 2018. Read on to learn more about human resources degrees and how they can further your career in human resources.

Associate’s Degree Programs

Graduates with an associate’s degree in human resources management qualify for entry-level positions, such as basic human resources generalists. HR associate’s degree holders often also enter into specialized HR roles in private, public and nonprofit organizations; human resource clerks, HR assistants and assistant recruiters are some of the most popular jobs. Others work as training and development coordinators, payroll assistants and compensation or benefits specialists.

Bachelor’s Degree Programs

A human resource management bachelor’s degree equips you with the necessary tools to enter an HR career in a variety of business settings.

Programs typically include a comprehensive overview of human resources principles and practices, business and technology training and communication courses.

Students can expect a human resources bachelor’s program to include core business training in areas, such as accounting, finance, information technology and marketing. Additionally, most programs require an array of general education courses to meet various general studies distributions and also allow room for electives.

As an example of a typical course load, University of Phoenix offers the following program of 120 credit hours of undergraduate courses for Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Human Resources:

Examples of Core Courses

• Business Communications and Critical Thinking: Students will develop skills in critical thinking and decision making through the forms of written communication, including memos, emails, business letters, and reports. Other topics include communication ethics and cross-cultural communications, personal communication styles, solving organizational problems, and the evaluation of an organizations strategic direction.
• Introduction to Computer Applications and Systems: Students learn to apply Microsoft® Office tools including work processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software to accomplish business objectives.
• Management Theory and Practice: This course explores the rich field of management in theory and practice, and as both a science and an art. Students learn to apply management concepts to current workplace issues
• Ethics and Social Responsibility: This course provides a foundational perspective for ethics and social responsibility in relationship to individuals, organizations, and the community.
• Organizational Development: This organizational behavior course encompasses the study of individual and group behavior in organizational settings. Other topics include strategic elements of organizational behavior, workforce diversity, managing change, effective communication, and performance systems.
• Fundamentals of Human Resources Management: This course will provide students with a critical perspective on the development of human capital in the context of a unified system of attracting, retaining and developing talent that creates and supports the vision and values of the organization. Students will develop an understanding of the critical business implications for human resource professionals today.
• Strategic Human Resource Management and Emerging Issues: The course explores how to align human resource management (HRM) with the business strategies, and the emerging issues facing business, and to understand the HRM competencies and leadership skills necessary to be a true strategic business partner.

Master of Business Administration (MBA) Programs

Both an MBA with a concentration in human resources and a human resource master’s degree will prepare you to take on HR leadership positions across industries. MBA and master’s in human resources graduates go on to attain such high positions as director or vice president of human resources.

While each track offers advanced training in human resources and managerial concepts and theories, the human resources MBA allows students to develop a broad set of business skills that can also transfer to other arenas.

In contrast, the highly specialized master’s in HR offers students the opportunity to focus almost exclusively on issues related to human resources.

Schools and universities now offer short, intense certificate programs in HR specialties such as compensation and benefits management or employee relations. These certificate courses are ideal for those already pursuing a career in HR, who are want to make a lateral move from one area to another.

If you are new to HR, a certificate course may also enable you to test the waters and help you decide whether a career in HR is for you. By sampling a few courses, you can assess your interest level. Often, universities will allow you to enroll in their certificate courses and then transfer the credits into their full-time degree programs.

Professional human resource certifications provide a widely recognized way to demonstrate your HR knowledge and training. The Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) awards several levels of professional certification:

• PHR (Professional in Human Resources)—The PHR Certification exam is comprised of a test in the following areas: strategic development, workforce planning and employment, human resource development, total rewards, employee and labor relations and risk management.
• SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources)—The SPHR Certification exam is comprised of a test in the following areas: strategic development, workforce planning and employment, human resource development, total rewards, employee and labor relations and risk management.
• GPHR (Global Professional in Human Resources)—The GPHR Certification exam is comprised of a test in the following areas: strategic HR management, organizational effectiveness and employee development, global staffing, international assignment management, global compensation and benefits and international employee relations and regulations.
• PHR-CA and SPHR-CA (PHR and GHR with state certification in California)—The California certification is designed to augment the PHR and SPHR certifications and it focuses on California laws and practices that are different from federal laws and practices.

HRCI certifications require a “hands-on” experience component, which generally translates to approximately two years of experience as an HR professional. This qualification adds a great deal of value to the certification and is helpful in convincing employers that you are as well-versed in HR practice as you are in theory. These certifications also require you to complete a certificate or degree program and pass an exam.

In general, coursework for an associate’s degree in human resources covers personnel recruitment and evaluation, employee relations, staff training and development, employment law, business ethics and compensation and benefits. Students should also expect to take some general education courses, such as math and writing. Coursework for a human resources management bachelor’s degree covers contemporary HR issues, including the following:

• Organizational theory and design
• Behavioral science
• Legal issues in HR management
• Performance management and assessment
• Employee training and development
• Compensation and benefits

The curriculum for an MBA in human resources generally involves corporate management and business strategy concepts, organizational behavior and design, ethical leadership, and in-depth HR concepts and tools as they relate to general management.

Coursework for a human resources master’s degree typically involves detailed studies of human resource subsystems, including legal issues in the workplace, compensation and benefits, and recruitment and training. Students will also take classes covering leadership and strategic management concepts, organizational psychology and organizational design.

A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. According to Kaplan business schools are "educational institutions that specialize in teaching courses and programs related to business and/or management". Such a school can also be known as school of management, school of business administration, or colloquially b-school or biz school. A business school teaches topics such as accounting, administration, strategy, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, human resource management, management science, management information systems, international business, logistics, marketing, organizational psychology, organizational behavior, public relations, research methods and real estate among others.

There are several forms of business schools, including a school of business, business administration, and management.

1. Most of the university business schools consist of faculties, colleges, or departments within the university, and predominantly teach business courses (e.g. Mannheim Business School).
2. In North America, a business school is often understood to be a university program that offers a graduate Master of Business Administration degrees and/or undergraduate bachelor's degrees (e.g. Harvard Business School).
3. In Europe and Asia, some universities teach predominantly business courses (e.g. Copenhagen Business School).
4. Privately owned business school which is not affiliated with any university (e.g. WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management).

Kaplan classifies business schools along four Corners:

1. Culture (Europe - US): Independent of their actual (physical) location, business schools can be classified according to whether they follow the European or the US model.
2. Compass (international/global – regional/local): Business schools can be classified along a continuum, with international/ global schools on one end and regional/ local schools on the other.
3. Capital (public – private): Business schools can either be publicly (state) funded or privately funded, for example through endowments or tuition fees.
4. Content (teaching – research): Business school can be classified according to whether a school considers teaching or research to be its primary focus.

Some business schools structure their teaching around the use of case studies (i.e. the case method). Case studies have been used in Graduate and Undergraduate business education for nearly one hundred years. Business cases are historical descriptions of actual business situations. Typically, information is presented about a business firm's products, markets, competition, financial structure, sales volumes, management, employees and other factors influencing the firm's success. The length of a business case study may range from two or three pages to 30 pages, or more.

Students are expected to scrutinize the case study and prepare to discuss strategies and tactics that the firm should employ in the future. Three different methods have been used in business case teaching:

1. Preparing case-specific questions to be answered by the student. This is used with short cases intended for Undergraduate students. The underlying concept is that such students need specific guidance to be able to analyze case studies.
2. Problem-solving analysis is the second method initiated by the Harvard Business School which is by far the most widely used method in MBA and executive development programs. The underlying concept is that with enough practice (hundreds of case analyses) students develop intuitive skills for analyzing and resolving complex business situations. Successful implementation of this method depends heavily on the skills of the discussion leader.
3. A generally applicable strategic planning approach. This third method does not require students to analyze hundreds of cases. A strategic planning model is provided and students are instructed to apply the steps of the model to six – and up to a dozen cases – during a semester. This is sufficient to develop their ability to analyze a complex situation, generate a variety of possible strategies and to select the best ones. In effect, students learn a generally applicable approach to analyze cases studies and real situations. This approach does not make any extraordinary demands on the artistic and dramatic talents of the teacher. Consequently, most professors are capable of supervising the application of this method.

In contrast to the case method some schools use a skills-based approach in teaching business. This approach emphasizes quantitative methods, in particular operations research, management information systems, statistics, organizational behavior, modeling and simulation, and decision science. The leading institution in this method is the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. The goal is to provide students a set of tools that will prepare them to tackle and solve problems.

In addition to teaching students, many business schools run Executive Education programs. These may be either open programs or company-specific programs. Executives may also acquire an MBA title in an Executive MBA program within university of business or from top ranked business schools. Many business schools seek close co-operation with business.

        Industry Description

Code	Concentration	More Info
MBA/HRM	Master of Business Administration- Health Care
School: University of Phoenix Program: The Master in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resource Management (MBA/HRM) program is designed to meet the needs of a broad but unique population - the working adult manager or supervisor who could benefit from a graduate business education. Because the tools of the human resources management science are applicable to the problems of the public sector as well as the private sector, students whose career interests involve not-for-profit enterprise are also encouraged to seek admission. The MBA/HRM program requires a practical background in business, and the successful candidate will have a least three years of relevant experience. :: Concentration: Human Resource Management :: Online    ::  Location: Kalamazoo, MI ::  more info

Code	Concentration	More Info
MBA/HRM	Master of Business Administration- Health Care
School: University of Phoenix Program: The Master in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resource Management (MBA/HRM) program is designed to meet the needs of a broad but unique population - the working adult manager or supervisor who could benefit from a graduate business education. Because the tools of the human resources management science are applicable to the problems of the public sector as well as the private sector, students whose career interests involve not-for-profit enterprise are also encouraged to seek admission. The MBA/HRM program requires a practical background in business, and the successful candidate will have a least three years of relevant experience. :: Concentration: Human Resource Management :: Online    ::  Location: Kalamazoo, MI ::  more info

Code	Concentration	More Info
MBA/HRM	Master of Business Administration- Health Care
School: University of Phoenix Program: The Master in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resource Management (MBA/HRM) program is designed to meet the needs of a broad but unique population - the working adult manager or supervisor who could benefit from a graduate business education. Because the tools of the human resources management science are applicable to the problems of the public sector as well as the private sector, students whose career interests involve not-for-profit enterprise are also encouraged to seek admission. The MBA/HRM program requires a practical background in business, and the successful candidate will have a least three years of relevant experience. :: Concentration: Human Resource Management :: Online    ::  Location: Tulsa, OK ::  more info

Code	Concentration	More Info
MBA/HRM	Master of Business Administration- Health Care
School: University of Phoenix Program: The Master in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resource Management (MBA/HRM) program is designed to meet the needs of a broad but unique population - the working adult manager or supervisor who could benefit from a graduate business education. Because the tools of the human resources management science are applicable to the problems of the public sector as well as the private sector, students whose career interests involve not-for-profit enterprise are also encouraged to seek admission. The MBA/HRM program requires a practical background in business, and the successful candidate will have a least three years of relevant experience. :: Concentration: Human Resource Management :: Campus    ::  Location: Peurto Rico, PR ::  more info

Industry Description

Human Resource Management Degrees

The Master of Arts in Business/Human Resources is designed for the working manager who wants to acquire or build knowledge and skills essential for management in private and public organizations.

The management major emphasizes performance systems, employment law, marketing and public relations, financial analysis, global business strategies, and quality management. Specific attention will be placed on retention programs, counseling, compensation planning and overall staff budgeting concepts.

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