History of Graduate Studies

East Stroudsburg University inaugurated Graduate Studies in 1962 with three Master of Education (M.Ed.) programs: Biological Sciences, General Science, and Health and Physical Education. In 1969, the first Master of Arts (M.A.) programs, in History and Political Science, were approved.

Over the years, graduate programs in a variety of fields, including a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) have been approved and offered. In 2001, ESU entered into a memorandum of understanding with Indiana University of Pennsylvania to offer the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Administration and Leadership Studies on campus. In 2004, three new Master of Science (M.S.) programs were added: Exercise Science, Management and Leadership, and Sport Management. Also in 2004, the M.S., Cardiac Rehabilitation was revised to the M.S., Clinical Exercise Physiology. In 2007, our first distance education graduate program, M.S., Athletic Training, was approved. More recently, the university was approved to offer an M.A. in Professional and New Media Writing, an M.A. in Communication, a new Organizational Behavior concentration within the M.S. in Management and Leadership program and an M.S. in Accounting in 2019.  In 2016, the university was approved to offer its first doctoral degree, an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration and in 2019, a second doctoral degree, a D.H.Sc. in Health Sciences was approved.

In its first graduating class of 1964, the university awarded 10 graduate degrees. Today, the University offers over 30 degree, certification preparation and certificate programs.