Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration
Accelerate your journey to exceptional coaching and leadership.
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Expand your Opportunities, Elevate your Career
The Mission of the Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletics Administration (MCAA) program at Concordia University Irvine is to “equip and empower leaders in athletics to transform lives while pursuing competitive excellence.”
Whether you are a coach, administrator, trainer, or in another athletics-related position, we recognize that working with athletes is a special calling, a passionate privilege that comes with significant responsibility, lasting influence, and enormous fulfillment.
The MCAA program is designed by highly successful, experienced coaches and ADs for working people like you. This flexible program sharpens and strengthens your skills so that you can effectively develop and inspire athletes to reach their potential on and off the field. You will grow in your capacity to:
- Build and lead successful teams
- Instill character to pursue excellence with honor
- Acquire knowledge and skills that lead to peak performance
- Plan and manage all critical aspects of sports programs
Online or Hybrid
Take your classes online or in a hybrid format.
36 Units
Finish your Master’s in just 15 months.
$595/Unit
New students may be eligible for a $1,000 scholarship.
Coach’s Playbook
Tim Cates of iHeart Radio’s AM 570 LA Sports interviews alumni and instructors from Concordia’s Master’s in Coaching and Athletics Administration program. Listen to the Masters in Coaching Podcast to discover why developing a coaching philosophy impacts your career and influences the lives of athletes from high school to the professional level.
Getting Started
The curriculum blends acquiring critical knowledge and skills with practical application. Every course is designed to help you apply what you are learning directly to your current role, so you will see an immediate positive impact in your coaching and leadership effectiveness as well as program improvement. In addition to coursework, you will build a professional portfolio that demonstrates your leadership philosophy, coaching qualities, administrative skills, and capacity for running an exceptional program or department.
Next Start
August 24, 2026
Upcoming Starts
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Winter 2026 November 16, 2026
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Spring 2027 February 15, 2027
Curriculum
Complete the following Five (5) Core Courses:
- MCAA510 – Principles of Coaching and Leadership
- MCAA530 – Ethics And Sport
- MCAA550 – Research Methods and Analysis
- MCAA580 – Legal Aspect of Sport
- MCAA595 – Culminating Project
In addition to the five (5) Core Courses, you will take four (4) Elective Courses from a wide variety of courses designed to meet your goals and aspirations.
View the Concordia University Irvine Online Catalog for a full list of courses.
Want to expand your expertise? By adding just four more courses, you can earn both the Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration and the Master of Science in Coaching and Exercise Sciences.
Major Benefits of an MCAA Experience:
- Significantly improved effectiveness in coaching and leadership skills
- Positive impact on most salary scales and potential income increases
- Improved career path advancement opportunities:
- More appealing candidate for open athletics-related positions
- Moving from assistant coach to head coach
- Moving from coach to athletics administration
- Graduate with a portfolio featuring your best work that helps with interviews
MCAA’s design is for the practical hands-on application of knowledge gained as you progress through the program: There are immediate rewards with daily learning!
Tuition and Fees
At Concordia, we understand that investing in your education is a significant decision. That’s why we offer a variety of scholarships and financial aid options to help make your academic journey more affordable. View tuition costs and fees.
Scholarship Opportunity
Concordia University Irvine is proud to offer a $1,000 scholarship to eligible new students when you begin the MCAA program. Get started by requesting information or starting your application.
Admission Requirements
View the Graduate Application page for full details on application and admission requirements.
Information Sessions
Attend an Information Session online to learn more about our program, the application process, financial aid, payment plans, and more.
Career Outcomes
By 2028, the global sports market is expected to be worth over $680 billion.1 Sports occupations in particular are growing fast. It is estimated that there will be 41,800 openings for coaches and scouts each year on average between now and 2033.2
MCAA/MSCE Program Handbook
The Program Handbook provides you with certain graduate degree program descriptions and requirements needed to earn a MCAA/MSCE degree.
Networking Opportunities
As an MCAA graduate student at Concordia, you will become part of an impressive community of over 5,000 alumni coaching and leading all over the country. You will create meaningful connections that support both personal and professional growth. Our dedicated faculty and staff are committed to helping you passionately embrace your calling and hone your skills through mentorship and collaboration.
As one of the first to enter the coaching market, CUI’s MCAA program has been a pioneer and leader in the sports field for over two decades. Each year, more graduate students enroll in our program than in any other educational athletics program of its kind. You will be joining an extraordinary family of outstanding leaders in athletics committed to excellence.
Explore Financial Aid
Reduce your tuition costs with financial aid — with help from a team that wants to make your time at Concordia as affordable as possible.
Meet Our Faculty
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James Staunton
MCAA Adjunct Instructor Western Regional Coordinator for Recruitment and Retention
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Keegan Bloomfield
MCAA Adjunct Instructor and head coach of men’s and women’s…
FAQs
What’s the difference between the MCAA and the MSCE?
The Master of Arts (MCAA) degree focuses on the practical application of knowledge and skills in coaching and athletics administration, with a wide range of electives available and the option for an internship (a supervised educational work experience that allows you to apply the knowledge you are acquiring in a practical setting). The vast array of elective opportunities include sport-specific courses designed to ensure expertise in coaching a particular sport. The MCAA degree is tailor made for those who wish to hone their coaching skills, move into a head coaching position, or seek a position as an athletics administrator.
The Master of Science (MSCE) degree incorporates exercise science coursework in the electives, preparing you for roles that require a science-based degree, such as teaching kinesiology in a community college, serving as a strength and conditioning coach, or becoming an athletic trainer to name a few examples. Both programs share five (5) core courses, but have their own separate electives from which students must take four (4). Alumni of either the MCAA or MSCE program can earn a second degree in the other program with just five (5) additional classes.
How can you get into college athletics administration?
MCAA helps prepare you for the realities of coaching and athletics administration at the university level by offering elective courses designed for future college-level positions. These courses include from Interscholastic Leadership and Administration, Facility Planning and Event Management, Strategic Planning and Marketing of College Athletics, Student-Athlete Development and Leadership, Compliance and Regulation of College Athletics, Athletic Finance, and Intercollegiate Athletics in America.
How long does it take to earn a degree?
Most MCAA students earn their Master’s Degree in 15 months. There are four 11-week terms each year. Students may enroll and begin in any term. 36 units are required which is made up of nine 4-unit courses (five core courses and four electives). You take two courses per term for four terms and one in your fifth term. Or take one course per term and finish in two years plus one final term. Each term is 11 weeks in length.
Do I have to take all classes online or in person?
There are three delivery mode options available to you:
- 100% online: you can do your coursework at times convenient for you. All online courses are asynchronous, meaning you are not required to meet online at a set time.
- In-person courses are offered on Concordia Irvine’s beautiful campus.
- Hybrid: you can blend online classes with in-person classes.
Note – There are two types of in-person courses: 1) Meet once a week during a regular 11-week semester or 2) The other option is one-week intensive courses that meet during the summer.
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Sources
1Statista, Sports industry revenue worldwide in 2022, with a forecast for 2028, on the internet, at:
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/370560/worldwide-sports-market-revenue/ (viewed Dec. 5, 2024).
2U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, on the internet, at:
- https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/ (viewed Dec. 5, 2024),
- https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/coaches-and-scouts.htm (viewed Dec. 5, 2024).
Cited projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth.