Pacific Reimagines Master of Nonprofit Leadership To Serve Regional Workforce Needs

Pacific University is updating its Master of Nonprofit Leadership program to directly address the evolving workforce needs of the region’s growing nonprofit sector. The reimagined program, which rolls out in January 2027, introduces lower tuition rates, rolling admission, and Pacific’s first stackable professional certificate model.

According to ProPublica, over 29,000 nonprofit organizations operate in Oregon, ranging from health systems and hospitals to educational organizations to volunteer service organizations. Pacific’s redesigned program makes advanced, professional-grade leadership skills more accessible and affordable for this vital workforce.

“Nonprofits are businesses. And understanding how to run an effective business, how to start an effective business of this type is crucial to changing the world,” said Amy Tracewell MNL ’24, director (and herself an alumna) of the Master of Nonprofit Leadership program. “We’re building those leaders at Pacific and we’re making it accessible for those leaders to learn the skills they need to use a nonprofit to make change in the world.”

Rather than a sequence of individual classes ultimately leading to a degree, the program will be organized around four stackable graduate certificates: 

•    Eight-credit certificates: Nonprofit Leadership & Governance and Collaboration, Management & Community Engagement
•    Six-credit certificates: Resource Development & Program Management and Program Development, Innovation & Strategy

Professionals can take individual certificates to focus on targeted skill development, or can stack all four together, along with a hands-on “Project In Action” capstone, to complete the Master of Nonprofit Leadership degree.

Full-time students can complete the Master of Nonprofit Leadership in 12 months. Part-time students typically complete the full program in two to five years.

Additionally, the program will utilize a rolling admissions system, allowing professionals to start classes at the beginning of any term, based on what best fits their schedule. Tuition also has been reduced to $450 per credit.

Developed in partnership with the Nonprofit Association of Oregon and featuring active nonprofit professionals as faculty members, Pacific’s Master of Nonprofit Leadership program ensures students master the skills needed to lead in the region’s growing nonprofit sector. 

The reimagining of the program aligns with broader initiatives at Pacific to make high-quality education more accessible and relevant to the needs of students and the region. Other initiatives include Pacific Priority, which provides a four-year graduation guarantee for undergraduate students in most degree programs, a two-year graduation guarantee for transfer students with an associate’s degree, and guaranteed admission in one of 11 Pacific graduate programs, including the MNL program. In July, Pacific announced that it will offer Oregon’s first in-person three-year undergraduate degree programs in chemistry, computer science, and sustainability & adaptation.

And Pacific continues to work toward an innovative merger of equals with Willamette University, which would retain the two universities’ campuses, programs and cultures while expanding the institutions’ academic portfolio, institutional reach, and opportunities for students and the region.