MPS - Masters in Professional Studies

Photo of professional man speaking to a colleague If you are ready to take the next step in your career, and you want the flexibility of an online program, consider the Masters in Professional Studies. The MPS is a completely online degree program taught collaboratively by professors from several public Tennessee universities including TSU. Once accepted to TSU's MPS degree, you register for your courses through the TSU registration system and receive a TSU diploma when you have successfully completed the degree.

We offer three concentrations: Strategic Leadership, Human Resources Management, or Training and Development.

You can receive your diploma for the MPS degree for any of these three concentrations from TSU. You can rely on the support and experience of both the TN eCampus Initiative and Tennessee State University for provision of distance education, while obtaining a quality degree. Contact us to discuss the MPS degree.

  • Admission deadlines: April 1 (Summer); July 1 (Fall); November 1 (Spring).  We will consider applications received after the deadline whenever possible, but please note applications received close to the start of the semester do not allow sufficient time for processing; acceptance if granted in that case will be for the following semester.
  • Apply to the Master of Professional Studies degree : be sure to choose the desired concentration (Human Resources Leadership, Strategic Leadership, or Training and Development) when you select your program in GradCAS to create the application. If you have difficulty with the application system, please contact the Graduate School directly at 615/963.5901 or gradschool@tnstate.edu.
  • information and enrollment for the MPS, by concentration:  Strategic Leadership, Human Resources Management, or Training and Development.
  • RISK TO FEDERAL AID ELIGIBILITY - COURSE PROGRAM OF STUDY REQUIREMENT (CPoS): https://www.tnstate.edu/financial_aid/cpos.aspx. Federal financial aid will NOT PAY for any courses not showing as part of your program of study in DegreeWorks (access via DegreeWorks link under Student Services in myTSU; it is farther down than Banner Services link). While some common substitutions an advisor may make have been coded into the system, less common substitutions have not. Additionally, certain courses/scenarios may not be accurately assessed by the system. It is the student's responsibility to check DegreeWorks after registering and after any change in registration to check if any registered courses are showing as "Fall Through" or “Additional Courses” (these are the course(s) that will generate a CPOS alert/flag in the financial aid system) -- those courses will NOT be covered for by financial aid unless proper, prompt action is taken. Furthermore, if a CPOS alert on one course drops your financial aid-eligible enrollment" below 6 credits, NO financial aid can be released even if the second course is in CPOS because Federal financial aid requires graduate students to be taking at least six credits. You must check DegreeWorks after every registration OR change in registration to make sure no current courses are listed under "Fall Through" or "Additional Courses" (look below the Major Requirements section). If you see any courses in those areas, contact Dr. Stanley immediately; he will advise you if it is not the right course to take or else request the Graduate School to code in the substitution in DegreeWorks. Once the change is made in DegreeWorks, it can take up to two full business days for it to reflect in CPoS so do not delay. You should also check your CPoS record in myTSU>Banner Services>Financial Aid [tab]>CPoS - Course program of study [link]. CPoS should show your current registrations – verify that it shows the same total of aid eligible credits as you are enrolled (both must be 6 or more to receive any aid). If there is a difference between the two totals, you need to seek advising right away just like with the Fall-through class in DegreeWorks. All issues must be resolved well before Day 14 into the fall or spring semester (weekends count) because after Day 14, financial aid enrollment is "frozen." The equivalent freeze date comes earlier in summer terms (ask Financial Aid for exact date); yet another reason to get any issues resolved before the first day of classes every time. Costs begin to accrue Day 1 of every semester. 
  • TSU Graduate Catalog (see Graduate School policies which apply to all students in the front portion as well as the College of Public Service chapter)
  • ADVISOR - Dr. Rodney Stanley | email rstanley1@tnstate.edu
  • Frequently asked questions about TN eCampus online learning
  • Support Services from TN eCampus
  • TN eCampus course site - login to courses here for the MPS program (not the TSU eLearn site)