Our Human Resource Management degree prepares you to exercise thoughtful HR practice and leadership.
If you’re a strategic thinker who likes working with and supporting people, Portland State University’s human resource management degree might be the ideal fit.
Whether you’re a full-time student, working professional, military veteran, or transfer student, PSU’s degree in HR management provides you with first-rate career preparation via in-person or online course formats. You’ll acquire practical, highly marketable skills and workplace experience, earning an HR management degree from one of the nation’s best-known sources of HR talent.
PSU’s HR management degree equips you with the tools to shape workplace culture, identify and groom leaders, improve productivity, and to use HR data and analytics to inform and support long-range strategic objectives. With an HR management degree from PSU, you’ll stand out in the job market and in your HR management career.
- Industry connections. Our HR management program has a four-decade history of active involvement in Portland’s HR community, including a strong relationship with the Portland Human Resource Management Association (PHRMA). You’ll interact regularly with HR management professionals on campus and off. You might apply your newly acquired skills to a supervised internship, and all students engage in a community-based learning capstone course which includes a project that demonstrates their ability to apply classroom concepts to the real world of HR management. These experiences develop students and may lead directly to your first HR management job.
- Professional orientation. Our HR management degree integrates textbook theories and frameworks with practical skill development. You’ll learn the most current industry-standard techniques, technologies, and data analytics tools and techniques, preparing you to land a job in HR management and make an immediate impact in the workplace and advance quickly into leadership roles.
- Superior faculty. You’ll learn from experienced professionals and scholars who have spent years practicing and studying HR management. Many instructors remain active in the HR field, and all have extensive contacts and insider knowledge unmatched in the HR domain.
- Big-picture perspective. PSU’s HR management degree prepares you to offer strategic leadership. You’ll understand how HR management relates to broader organizational goals, enabling you to exert high-level influence now and in the future.
- Flexible on-campus and online options. You can take all your HR management courses online, earn the entire degree on campus, or complete the HR management degree via a mixture of online and on-campus courses, including hybrid courses. These options enable you to earn the HR management degree no matter where you live, even if you’re working a full-time job or raising a family. And because you make the choice of what format works best for you in any particular term, you have the flexibility to change course modalities if work or family demands throw changes your way.
HR Management Degree Highlights
- Online, on-campus, and hybrid options offer maximum convenience and affordability
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) award-winning student chapter of the Human Resource Management Association (HRMA) provides excellent networking and professional development opportunities
- PSU’s diverse campus population mirrors diversifying workforce demographics
- Portland State’s HR Management program rated as a top online program for return on investment by SR Education Group
- More than 800 internships and jobs posted to PSU students each year by corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and numerous other organizations
- Ongoing career development support to hone your interviewing, resume writing, job search, and business etiquette skills
- PSU has been featured for four consecutive years on U.S. News & World Report’s “Most Innovative Universities” list
- Nationally ranked business school that holds elite dual accreditation in business and accounting from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
Glassdoor.com ranks HR management as one of the nation’s top five career opportunities, based on average starting salary, job satisfaction, and employer demand.
Organizations of every size, in every industry (including nonprofits and government employers), need HR management professionals to recruit, train, manage, retain, and optimize their workforce.
You may start or accelerate your HR management career in an area such as:
- Change management
- Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity
- Employee compensation and benefits
- Employee retention
- General HR management
- HR analytics
- HR information systems
- Labor relations and negotiations
- Leadership development
- Onboarding
- Organizational culture
- Performance management
- Recruitment
- Selection
- Training and development
- Workforce planning
Curriculum
The HR management program includes a required capstone course, which is the culmination of the disparate HR management topics integrated into one course. You’ll take required courses in performance management, staffing, employee selection, and other subjects. Download the Human Resource Management Sequence Sheet for additional details about prerequisites, requirements, credits, and suggested sequences.
Accreditation & Rankings
Portland State University is fully accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).
One of less than 200 business schools worldwide — top 1% — to be accredited in both business and accounting by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). AACSB is the elite business school accreditation known internationally.
Best Undergraduate Business Programs, U.S. News & World Report
#11 Best Online Bachelor's in Business Programs, U.S. News & World Report
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