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Master's

Master of Arts in Executive Coaching & Consulting

Elevate Your Impact
With the Townsend Institute’s M.A. in Executive Coaching & Consulting Program

Facilitate lasting change.

Are you looking for a career that engages your strengths and skills, offers meaningful work, and allows you to come alongside other leaders in achieving their goals?

Our online Master of Arts in Executive Coaching and Consulting is one of the only graduate-level degrees of its kind in the nation. Our uniqueness is that we will train you in two marketable areas:

  • Executive Coaching, in which you will help leaders increase their performance and success skills for their organizations.
  • Consulting, in which you will enter the actual world of the organization, helping them achieve their goals by strategizing, training, guiding and developing their leadership and team.

Accessible

Accessible: Online Classes

  • Offered in English

Affordable

Affordable: $635 Cost Per Unit


ICF Approved Coach Training Program

Accredited: ICF Approved Coach Training Program


WASC | Senior College and University Commission

Accredited: WASC Senior College and University Commission Accredited


Accelerated

Accelerated: 12-19 Month Program


Start in February or August

  • Learn how to facilitate transformational relationships
  • Become a practical, skills-based practitioner
  • Personally learn from Dr. John Townsend
  • Engage with world-class Christian thought leaders

Apply Now

Get Started Today

Our dedicated admissions counselors are here to help.

The deepest experience that I have had in my life. Vulnerability + Love & Safety = Growth, Healing & Deep Connection!

C Harvey Norman
M.A. Executive Coaching & Consulting

Female student on her computer

Join us LIVE!

Experience a new kind of relational education. Join us online LIVE and hear from our faculty, academic advisors, current students, and alumni about their experience in the Townsend Institute.

  • Ask Dr. John Townsend your questions about the Institute and our offerings
  • Learn how our counseling and leadership programs can advance your career
  • Connect with other prospective students exploring our programs
  • Become eligible for scholarships and other prizes by participating in our info session



Founded by best-selling author and leading Christian thought leader Dr. John Townsend, the Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine brings together Christians from all across the country and across all walks of life. For years, Dr. Townsend, along with the Institute’s Fellows and faculty, have been transforming lives. Now you too have the opportunity to learn from master practitioners with decades of real world experience.

The Master's in Executive Coaching and Consulting will take between 1 year and 19 months for a total of 33 credits. Students will take one or two 7-week courses at a time. Learning activities will involve approximately 10 to 12 hours of the student’s time investment each week. It is suggested that students working full time take only one course at a time.

Through successful completion of the Masters of Arts program, participants will earn 163 hours of coach-specific training and mentor coaching required for the International Coaching Federation’s (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.

Core Courses

  • EXCC 600: Personal Development Skills Process Group (3 units)
  • EXCC 602: Building Healthy Culture and Performance (3 units)
  • EXCC 604: Leading Change and Motivation (3 units)
  • EXCC 612: Executive Coaching and Character Development (3 units)
  • EXCC 613: Developing the Executive Coaching Relationship (3 units)
  • EXCC 614: Advanced Executive Coaching (3 units)
  • EXCC 603: Mindful Leadership, Neuroscience, and Emotional Intelligence (3 units)
  • EXCC 616 or 611: Presentation and Training Skills or Establishing Your Coaching & Consulting Business (1 unit)
  • EXCC 617: Consulting Skills (3 units)
  • EXCC 618: Practicum: Executive Coaching and Consulting I (1 unit)
  • EXCC 619: Practicum: Executive Coaching and Consulting II (1 unit)
  • EXCC 620: Executive Coaching and Consulting Capstone (3 units)

Elective Courses - Choose one course

  • EXCC 607: Group Coaching (3 units)
  • ORGL 615: Servant Leadership (3 units)
  • ORGL 605: Team Building, Conflict Management (3 units)
  • ORGL 616: Essential Communication Strategies (3 units)
  • ORGL 611: Effective Strategy and Execution (3 units)

For course descriptions, please see the Academic Catalog.

All courses are conducted in English.

The Townsend Institute takes a different approach to academics. We know it’s the time you spend with people who have legitimate on-the-ground experiences and have accomplished their goals that has the greatest impact. That’s why we provide students with the opportunity to personally learn from Dr. John Townsend, our Institute Fellows and faculty. Together, they cultivate a relational learning experience, addressing the head and the heart through science and data.

We believe there is great value in frequent, real-time interaction with fellow students and your instructors. Our graduate programs launch with a 4-Day Residency where you will meet Dr. Townsend personally as he and our Townsend Institute Fellows conduct a series of trainings. You will also go through 8 process-focused growth groups – you will not leave the same person.

To learn more about the Institute’s 4-day Residency, attend a Townsend LIVE info session.

The Townsend Institute is housed within Concordia University Irvine, a private, Lutheran university. Located in Southern California, Concordia serves over 4,000 students annually, on campus and online. Centered by a Christian worldview, and guided by the Great Commission, Concordia is home to a thoughtful and caring community of learners.

  • Leaders who want to increase their value to their organization by adding the skill of coaching, which often provides opportunities for advancement. When you integrate coaching knowledge and skills into your leadership style, you learn how to have powerful coaching conversations that increase trust, initiative, and increase the performance of your team members.
  • Consultants and executive coaches who want to learn the Townsend Competence & Character coaching and consulting model while earning a graduate academic degree.
  • Those transitioning to a career in executive coaching and consultation in response to the emergence of executive coaching as an established and distinct profession within the international field of individual and organizational development.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but we encourage you to have all documentation in two weeks prior to the start of each term. If you have any questions about the admissions process or need any assistance, please don't hesitate to connect with us.

Application Requirements

  • An application with nonrefundable application fee of $50
  • Student Success Fee: $50
  • One official transcript from a regionally accredited college or university that shows your confirmed bachelor’s degree. Official college transcripts must be sent in a sealed envelope.
  • Must have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale
  • Written essay (2 pages, 500 words) addressing the following items:
    • Personal, professional, and educational goals
    • In your experience, what is the best way that a person grows or changes?
    • What parts of your personality do you feel are conducive to your potential success in forming effective counseling relationships?
    • What is your capacity as a counselor to treat all those in need and show respect for cultural differences?
    • What interested you in applying to the Townsend Institute as opposed to other programs?
  • Minimum of 1 professional reference required.
  • A current professional resume

Apply Now

Concordia campus from French Hill Dr. Townsend and students in front of Grimm Hall

Start your application today.

Take your next step toward creating the career, and the life, you’ve been waiting for.

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