Program Details

What you'll learn

You’re dedicated to making a difference and ensuring your students succeed. You step up when leadership roles arise and are ready to take your passion for learning and leading to the next step. The University of Colorado Denver’s MA in Leadership for Educational Organizations (LEO-MA) degree with principal licensure is the program for you. With CU Denver’s excellent reputation and our expert and supportive faculty, you’ll start a path to a fulfilling career as an elementary, middle or high school principal or administrator where you’ll realize change at school and community levels. You’ll learn how to encourage diversity and social justice, develop a vision for a successful school and attain the real-world knowledge necessary to help you apply it.

CU Denver will prepare you with the wide breadth of knowledge necessary to create a school learning environment that is cooperative, safe and welcoming. You will learn how to:

• Collaborate across communities and stakeholder groups
• Become well-versed in current educational issues and how to overcome them, and
• Gain awareness of the legal, financial and political dimensions of schools and school districts.

You’ll learn all of this with a focus on equity and social justice, ensuring that all students have equal opportunities for an excellent education.

Choose CU Denver’s School of Education & Human Development

You can trust CU Denver to provide an education that will prepare you for excellence in your career as a school principal. We have a name that is recognized for preparing leaders of excellence who value equal opportunities in education. Additionally, CU Denver’s School of Education and Human Development is counted among U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools,” making us one of the top education schools in the country.

Cohorts

Learning with a cohort gives you the ability to customize your learning experience. Our cohorts are tailored to match your needs and future professional goals. We believe you will be best prepared for this demanding career with personalized instructional development with practitioners and leaders with a proven track record of success.

Typically, cohorts comprise 25 principal candidates who move through the four-semester principal licensure program together. We look for applicants to have a teaching or special services license plus a minimum of three years post-licensure experience. We welcome applicants from all districts into our principal licensure cohorts. However, we partner with metro-area districts to prepare leaders specifically for their schools.

Please review all options and specific semester starting dates below to find the best cohort option for your circumstances and career goals.

Upcoming Cohorts

Spring 2025 Jeffco Cohort

• Applications accepted through November 15, 2024
• In-person instruction
• Classes take place January 2025 - May 2026
• Register for an info session

Spring 2025 Boulder Northern Metro Cohort

• Applications accepted through November 15, 2024
• Hybrid instruction
• Classes take place January 2025 through April 2026
• Register for an info session

Summer 2025 Distance Learning Cohort #27

• Remote four-semester cohort with synchronous meetings through zoom
• Three daytime zoom meetings in Summer 2025 (Wednesday 6/4, Thursday 6/5, Friday 6/6)
• Two weekends in Fall 2025 (Friday evening 9/12, Saturday daytime 9/13, Friday evening 12/5, and Saturday daytime 12/6)
• Two weekends in Spring 2026 (Friday evening 2/6, Saturday daytime 2/7, Friday evening 4/10, and Saturday daytime 4/11)
• One morning in Summer 2026 (Friday 7/10)