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Youth Development MA
Our Youth Development MA helps you grow your career and uplift young lives.
Lead the next generation with RIC's Master's in Youth Development.
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Rhode Island College’s Master of Arts in Youth Development is the first program of its kind in New England. Designed for early and mid-career youth workers, this flexible, interdisciplinary degree equips you with the tools to lead, design, research, and innovate across youth-serving organizations. You'll customize your own concentration and gain hands-on experience through field-based learning.
A Youth Development Master's Degree Designed for You
Our program is for individuals working within youth development and/or youth-oriented social service organizations who want to elevate their careers to leadership positions.
In our program you will design your own concentration, comprised of two elective courses and a capstone project. Coursework includes field experiences that provide opportunities to learn from and lead Rhode Island’s vibrant youth development community.
89%
of faculty hold terminal degrees in their fields.
$300M
More than $300 million has been invested in campus upgrades & renovations in the past 5 years.
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Apply for Graduate Admission
To begin the process you will need to sign up for an account with CollegeNET. Once you have a CollegeNET account, you will be able to log in any time and see your Activity Log which shows you a personalized status page.
Our Youth Development Faculty
Dr. Lesley M. Bogad
- Professor
Rachael Lee Ficke Clemons
- Coordinator
- Field Education Youth Development Program
Dr. Victoria Restler
- Associate Professor
Dream Accomplished - Helping First-Generation Students Excel
The Office of Student Support Services helps all students excel as they reach that most important milestone – graduation.
Program Details
Learning Outcomes
- Purposeful Play – Understand that art and play can be a starting point for exploring content and community through ideals such as democracy, care, and inclusion.
- Care – Experience, practice, critically engage, and shape the intentional and diverse practices of care that shape youth and community.
- Identity – Explore both self and others and hone the skills to support young people, staff, and communities in identity exploration.
- Advocacy & Social Justice – Explore programming and policy through the lenses of power and difference in order to better understand how to build, sustain and lead positive communities with youth.
- Leading With – Design and practice democratic, collaborative leadership models with youth, colleagues and partners in the field.
Youth Development MA Scholarship Fund
The Youth Development MA Program at Rhode Island College is delighted to announce a new scholarship that is available to all Youth Development MA students. All students will be eligible to receive a $1000 tuition scholarship over the course of their studies. As a program rooted in equity, this scholarship fund is part our commitment to higher education access in the field of Youth Development.
Take the Next Step!
Department of Educational Studies
In the Department of Educational Studies, we teach you how children grow and develop and help you to use that knowledge to create learning environments and experiences that will benefit children for life.
- phone401-456-8018
- placeHorace Mann Hall 339
Rachael Lee Ficke Clemons
Coordinator
Field Education Youth Development Program
- emailrclemons@ric.edu
- phone401-456-8127