Excel in an evaluator position of your choice as you become empowered to lead evaluation efforts and data-driven decision-making. Through the online MS in Measurement and Evaluation, you’ll gain the skills you need to design and implement high-level program-based evaluations. By graduation you can:
Create logic models, results frameworks, and Evaluation Statements of Work (SOWs) to improve the planning, implementation, management, monitoring, and evaluation of projects.
Evaluate relevant project data using qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and visualization tools.
Establish professional consulting relationships with all project collaborators while using appropriate correspondence channels.
Use a variety of approaches and designs; plan performance, impact, and economic evaluations that support program equity and the needs of program collaborators.
Assess emerging trends in evaluation and the impact of ever-changing technologies.
Demonstrate professional ethics, project leadership skills, and cultural responsiveness while engaging in self-reflection.
6 Practicums Gain Technical Experience
Learn the Tenets of CREE Culturally Responsive Equitable Evaluation
Career-Focused Curriculum Developed with Advisory Panel
Admission to American University’s online Master of Science in Measurement and Evaluation program requires an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university.
Applicants will need to submit the following:
*The application fee is typically waived if the application file is complete within a three-week period.
Success in the workplace requires more than possessing relevant knowledge. You must also know how to communicate your ideas, work with teams, make ethical decisions, think critically, and demonstrate cross-cultural competence.
The online MS in Measurement and Evaluation is an experiential, project-oriented program that will give you the technical skills you need to design monitoring and evaluation systems that measure performance and impact while supporting equity. It was developed by industry professionals, so you’re prepared well beyond the basics with the critical information, skills, and experience you need at graduation to lead project evaluations.
Details can be found on our Program Curriculum page.
Program evaluators are found in all sectors by many titles. Still, the core of their role involves measuring program performance and impact, and providing insight and change recommendations after data collection and analysis. They answer questions such as:
The job growth rate of the many titles that align with the program evaluator’s responsibilities is strong. Additionally, a top five goal of non-profits is to start new or expand current programs1; while public sector is increasingly more focused on accountability. Consequently, the few who qualify for these positions find they can take their pick of sector and title while earning top dollar and using their career to make a lasting impact on communities and society.
Social and community service managers implement and supervise programs conceptualized by administrators, elected officials, or project collaborators, and are often expected to demonstrate effectiveness to those who fund them. To do so, they’ll collect qualitative and quantitative data, and use evaluations to identify areas that need improvement for programs to be more effective and equitable, such as providing mentorship and assessments for their staff.
Emergency management directors are responsible for keeping their community safe in the event of disasters and states of emergency, such as a natural disaster. In addition to drafting plans for, and managing people during response efforts, they coordinate shared resources, prepare and analyze damage assessments following an event, report on spending, and revise emergency plans as necessary.
Urban and regional planners is an umbrella term for many roles that contribute to how a community’s physical space is developed or conserved to serve the community equitably. Such planners are involved in land use and code enforcement, transportation, managing environmental and natural resources, supporting economic development and urban design, and advocating the best use of a community’s land and resources for residential, commercial, industrial, educational, and recreational purposes.
Many management analysts and evaluation consultants, who are also most recently known as evaluation consultants, work either independently or as part of a consulting firm. They often specialize in departments or industries, such as education, public health, environmental protection, disaster relief, and community development, both domestically and internationally. Their job growth rate is on the rise at 14%9, double the national average. Their goals are to develop solutions or alternative procedures to improve efficiencies and support equity, making their recommendations to their contact manager.
American University’s Career Center offers its services to online and on-campus students as well as to all alumni, so you’ll continue to receive support for as long as you need it.
This means you’ll have access to resources for your job search, career advising, internships, and scholarships. You can also network, look for jobs, and apply for positions by making an account at AU Career Web, our online career search tool.
In addition, the Office of Professional Studies offers career development workshops and continuing education through industry-specific webinars delivered by practitioners who discuss emerging trends in their fields. Our program directors act as mentors to current students and alumni alike.
As passionate change-makers, our alumni are employed in various settings all over the country. You can find some of them working at these outstanding organizations:
We’re especially proud of our faculty—prominent scholars and real-world professionals at the top of their fields who value mentoring students as much as they value excellence in the classroom. Through their teaching, scholarly achievements and first-hand experience, you’ll gain a special entry point to measurement and evaluation.
Visit our Program Faculty page to learn more about our faculty.
American University welcomes its online students as a part of its community. As an online student, you’ll learn from the same outstanding faculty and be held to the same learning standards as students who attend courses on campus. On-campus and online programs deliver the same outcomes, and important support systems, like career resources, are set up for online learners as well. The only difference is you’re allowed to learn when and where it’s best for you so you can earn your degree and advance your career without putting the rest of your career and life on hold.
Our digital campus was intentionally designed based on extensive research behind what makes online learning successful. We combine advanced technology, hands-on experiences, and full access to the American University community. Here, you’re not an online student, you’re an AU student.
Online courses are as challenging as their on-campus counterparts and taught by the same connected faculty members and prominent lecturers.
New-student orientation, 24/7 help desk for technical issues, a student services coordinator, financial aid advisers, and more are all available to ensure your success.
Home to some of the most acclaimed scholars and thought leaders in the world, you’ll learn from award-winning scholars and policymakers, diplomats, authors, artists, attorneys, scientists, journalists, and more.
Use virtual tools to talk about your coursework, work in teams with classmates, build strong connections, network with others and ask your professor questions and turn in assignments.
American University is dedicated to supporting military service members, veterans, and their families.
As an online student of the Master’s in Measurement and Evaluation program, you can transform your military experience and leadership skills into new career possibilities as you earn your degree, regardless of where you live or are stationed.
We support a full range of military education benefits such as:
Additionally, if you’ve served in any branch of the U.S. military on active duty within the past three years, you’re eligible for an application fee waiver. We accept transfer credits from military coursework, have a dedicated Office of Veterans Services to help connect you to benefits, and maintain an active Veterans Services Support Network.
We welcome you to learn more about our military benefits and how to apply for them.
Become an American University student. A passion for public service, an emphasis on active leadership, and a global outlook are the hallmarks of the American University learning experience. We create graduates who stand out from their peers as active, socially aware, and compassionate leaders who work toward creating meaningful change in our world.
To learn more about American University’s Master of Science in Measurement and Evaluation, request more information, request an appointment, or call us toll-free at 855-725-7614.
Developed by well-known and highly experienced evaluators, AU’s program offers in-depth and multi-disciplinary content so that you gain the technical skills you need to be an evaluation expert in a variety of fields.
To ensure that the curriculum is relevant and reflective of emerging trends in evaluation, AU constructed the master’s program with guidance from an expert advisory council of evaluators with experience in international development, education, public health, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector.
Admission requirements for the MS in Measurement and Evaluation include a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
Applicants will need to submit the following:
No prior measurement and evaluation experience is required for admission to the program; however, this program is geared toward those with prior professional experience.
The program can be completed in as little as 20 months.
No, a GRE test is not required.
We may accept up to six hours of graduate work from another institution that applies directly to the MS in Measurement and Evaluation degree. Transfer credits from another institution must be approved by the admissions team.
Our application deadline will change depending on which semester you are applying for. Please contact our online admissions staff for a specific timeline your application file needs to be fully submitted. Application decisions are given about two weeks following submission.
Our fall semester starts in August. Spring semester begins in January. Summer session begins in May.
Yes, graduate students enrolled at least half-time in a master’s program may be eligible for federal loans. To apply, students must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). American University’s FAFSA code is 001434.
This program is offered exclusively online. There will be opportunities for learners to meet each other face to face in our immersion events, but these events are optional.
Yes. The online Graduate Certificate in Project Monitoring and Evaluation consists of four courses focused on evaluation theories, approaches, and designs and data-driven decision making. If you decide to pursue the online MS in Measurement and Evaluation at a later date, you can use these 12 credits towards the full degree.
All students will have the opportunity to focus on an area of their interest and work with a client to complete their capstone project. Students will work with an experienced faculty member who will serve as a mentor and provide feedback throughout each step of the project.
Yes, online students can easily request a Student ID online to take advantage of all the same resources as our on-campus students.
1 https://go.plantemoran.com/rs/946-CTY-601/images/NFP_Outlook_Survey_2022.pdf
2 https://www.comparably.com/salaries/salaries-for-director-monitoring-and-evaluation
3 https://www.comparably.com/salaries/salaries-for-director-evaluation-research
4https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Director_of_International_Development/Salary
