Flexible Graduate Programs with Purpose: Antioch University’s Mission-Driven Approach
Antioch University’s flexible online and low-residency graduate programs are designed for mission-driven professionals and offered in blended formats through the AU Multi-Campus/National-School model. AU programs emphasize social justice and empower graduate students—in all fields—to become change makers not just degree earners.
When prospective students search for online graduate programs or low-residency options, they’re often seeking flexibility and convenience.But for those who want to both advance their career and improve the work and world around them, flexibility might not be enough. Such students want programs with purpose. Why? Because they are building careers and lives, alike, around equity, sustainability, and systemic change.
The philosophies, pedagogies, and practices of Antioch University are designed for this type of graduate student. With five campuses across the United States, a fully accredited online presence, and a co-founder of a national coalition, Antioch University offers graduate degrees that combine academic rigor with a transformative mission: advancing social, environmental, and economic justice.
Unlike many online or hybrid programs, Antioch’s offerings are explicitly geared towards educators, counselors, business professionals, community leaders, and policy advocates who are ready to lead change—not just learn about it.
What Graduate Programs Look Like at Antioch: Personalized, Practical, and Purpose-Driven
Antioch’s graduate programs for working professionals are not built on standardized templates or generic content, they’re personalized, experiential, and student-centered. Programs like the MA in counseling offer specialized tracks in trauma-informed care, multicultural counseling, and LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy. These options allow students to tailor their coursework to reflect their personal values and serve the communities where they live and work.
Meanwhile, students in both the PhD in Leadership and Change and the EdD in Educational & Professional Practice co-design personalized learning pathways with faculty mentors. Their dissertations aren’t mere academic exercises; they are tools of real-world change. For instance, graduates have transformed concrete practices in areas ranging from community-based health equity and workplace inclusion to inclusive team-building in early childhood education.
This applied, customized approach supports adult learners and working professionals who seek real-world impact while earning their graduate degrees.
Beyond the Books: Social Justice in Every Graduate Program
At Antioch University, social justice isn’t just an academic construct—it’s a concrete component of the curriculum. Every graduate program is anchored in this mission-driven commitment. Courses across the disciplines explicitly address inequality, power, privilege, and transformation.
In the MS in Resource Management and Administration: Sustainable Development and Climate Change, students take classes in science, policy, management, and communication. Faculty work with these students to develop their design-thinking capacities, consensus-building skills, and problem-solving techniques. At degree completion, these graduates go on to shape viable and equitable solutions in the complex geo-political environments in which they live.
Empowered Graduates: How Antioch Builds Leaders for Social Change
The success of Antioch’s graduate programs is best measured by what students do after they graduate. Over 80% of Antioch University graduate alumni go on to work in mission-driven organizations or civic leadership roles (Antioch University, 2023).
Sure, Antioch’s Master of Science in Allied Health in Exercise and Health Science prepares students for careers in the lucrative heath science field. But it goes way beyond that. How? By prompting students to address the interconnected relationship between physical activity, chronic disease, and systemic health disparities. This social-impact emphasis ensures that AU students hone the skills to design inclusive, culturally responsive interventions that address the needs of diverse populations.
Why It Matters: Today’s Pressures Must be Tempered by Graduate Student Changemakers
The tension in the world, the country, and U.S. higher education is palpable. Amidst the strain, many of today’s adult graduate students want more than a credential that helps them climb the next rung on the career ladder. They want to connect their career with their calling to build an integrated personal and professional life with meaning. They want to work in areas like climate justice, education equity, racial healing, mental health access, and policy reform. They want to contribute to solutions, not conform to a status-quo that does not work for the common good.
Antioch University doesn’t just support that vision. It helps students actualize it at every step of their studies. Don’t forget, the mantra—victories for humanity—that made Antioch known for almost two hundred years, rings loud and clear today.
Whether you’re an experienced nurse looking to scale your impact, a counselor building a more culturally-responsive CBT practice (cognitive behavior therapy), or a civic leader aiming to expose invisible systemic barriers, Antioch’s graduate programs provide the knowledge, skills, and community to help you lead change and make real-world impact.Â
Reference
Antioch University. (2023). Graduate Outcomes Survey: Alumni Impact Report. Internal Report.
