Interested in a career in residence life or a related area in student affairs? This page is a place you can start. It includes an overview of formal offerings from professional associations for undergraduate students as well as helpful articles and advice.
Professional Association Offerings
If you are interested in working in residence life and college student housing, there are three associations you should get to know:
- Association of College and Univesity Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I): The main association for residence life professionals. There are also regional “ACUHO” associations that have more local offerings. Check them out.
- ACPA – College Student Educators International: One of the two main comprehensive student affairs professional associations that covers all aspects of student life, including housing.
- NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education: One of the two main comprehensive student affairs professional associations that covers all aspects of student life, including housing.
All of these associations offer a number of programs and resources that are specially geared towards undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in the field.
ACUHO-I
- STARS College – A multi-day virtual experience for undergraduate students with a specialized curriculum that pairs you with mentors and allows you to learn more about the student affairs field of residence life and college student housing.
ACPA
- Careers in Student Affairs Month – CSAM occurs every year in October and professional associations offer a number of special opportunities such as webinars, discounts on membership, and other recourses.
- Graduate Students and New Professionals Community of Practice – One of the entity groups of the Association, specially by and for graduate students and new professionals.
- NextGen – An opportunity for undergraduate students that occurs at the ACPA annual conference every spring, there is a specialized curriculum that pairs you with mentors and allows you to learn more about the student affairs field and start making connections.
NASPA
- Careers in Student Affairs Month – CSAM occurs every year in October and professional associations offer a number of special opportunities such as webinars, discounts on membership, and other recourses.
- NASPA Undergraduate Fellowship Program (NUFP) – A mentoring program for undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented and historically disenfranchised populations.
- New Professionals and Graduate Students Steering Committee – One of the entity groups of the Association, specially by and for graduate students and new professionals.
Graduate Program Directory
If your’e looking for Masters programs in higher education and student affairs, the Graduate Program Directory is a great place to start. It allows you to look up programs by multiple criteria and filter the results according to your goals and needs. Another great way to discover programs is by asking other professionals, too!
