The Master of Professional Studies in Human Resources and Employment Relations (HRER) is a 33-credit master's degree for professionals already working in human resources/employment relations field or those with a strong, fundamental understanding of HRER. A typical student will take one or two 3-credit courses per semester.

The human resources and employment relations master's degree is designed to help you:

• understand the roles that employers, employees, unions, and government play in the employment relationship
• analyze the complex personal, legal, and organizational issues inherent in this relationship
• understand the ethical dimensions of human resource and employment relations
• analyze complex employment issues
• administer labor and human resource systems

Your course work culminates in a capstone class in which you will demonstrate an understanding of the curriculum and apply it to your professional areas of interest in human resources and employment relations.

Optional Intensive Courses

Each summer, the Master of Professional Studies in Human Resources and Employment Relations offers a selection of the core program courses as five-day intensive courses at Penn State's University Park campus in State College, Pennsylvania. This unique blended course experience allows you to fulfill a three-credit course requirement in a condensed format while experiencing campus life at Penn State.

Class activities such as lectures, case studies, and individual and team exercises will be scheduled for six hours each day, and you may also be required to complete additional assignments outside of the classroom. Approximately two-thirds of the course work for a course will be completed during the five days you are on campus, with some preparation work required before arriving on campus, and a follow-up project to be completed after the week concludes. Because of this intensive schedule, you are only permitted to take one in-residence course at a time.

While this is not a required aspect of the master's degree program, students are encouraged to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to interact and network with your peers and the faculty and staff for the program. More information about registration for these intensive courses will be available upon your acceptance to the degree program.

Earn HRCI Recertification Credits

The Master of Professional Studies in Human Resources and Employment Relations is an Approved Provider of the HR Certification Institute. Any course you successfully complete in the program can grant you 45 credits you can use toward your PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertifications. For a list of our courses, visit the Course List page.

The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute's criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit.