2024 Best Human Resource Management Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Human Resource Management is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #22 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 37 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Human Resource Management Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,293 master's degrees in human resource management to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Human Resource Management School for Your Master's Degree

The hr master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality hr program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to human resource management students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other human resource management students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt human resource management students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized human resource management related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for human resource management students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Human Resource Management Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Human Resource Management in the Southeast Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in human resource management.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in HR

1

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

36 Annual Graduates

$108,703 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Vanderbilt University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in human resource management. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.

Human Resource Management master's degree recipients from Vanderbilt University get an earnings boost of about $54,172 over the typical earnings of human resource management graduates.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from Vanderbilt University

2

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, LA

118 Annual Graduates

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in human resource management. Located in the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in human resource management from Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

3

University of South Carolina - Columbia
Columbia, SC

41 Annual Graduates

$92,505 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of South Carolina - Columbia if you wish to pursue a master's degree in human resource management. UofSC is a very large public university located in the city of Columbia.

Human Resource Management master's degree recipients from University of South Carolina - Columbia get an earnings boost of around $37,974 over the typical income of human resource management majors.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from University of South Carolina - Columbia

4

Florida International University
Miami, FL

133 Annual Graduates

$58,275 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in human resource management has to look into Florida International University. FIU is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Miami.

Master's recipients from the human resource management major at Florida International University get $3,744 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from Florida International University

5

University of Richmond
University of Richmond, VA

25 Annual Graduates

$54,362 Median Starting Salary

URichmond is a small private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of University of Richmond.

Students who graduate with their master's from the hr program report average early career wages of $54,362.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from University of Richmond

6

Clemson University
Clemson, SC

61 Annual Graduates

$60,652 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Human Resource Management master's degree recipients from Clemson University earn a boost of approximately $6,121 above the average earnings of human resource management graduates.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from Clemson University

7

Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, FL

62 Annual Graduates

$49,829 Median Starting Salary

NUS Florida is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Fort Lauderdale.

Soon after graduating, hr master's recipients usually earn an average of $49,829 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from Nova Southeastern University

8

Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY

20 Annual Graduates

$74,690 Median Starting Salary

NKU is a large public university located in the suburb of Highland Heights.

Human Resource Management master's degree recipients from Northern Kentucky University earn a boost of around $20,159 above the average income of human resource management majors.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from Northern Kentucky University

8

Marymount University
Arlington, VA

13 Annual Graduates

$78,827 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Arlington, Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Human Resource Management master's degree recipients from Marymount University get an earnings boost of around $24,296 above the average earnings of human resource management graduates.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from Marymount University

9

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN

19 Annual Graduates

$43,598 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, hr master's recipients typically earn around $43,598 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in human resource management from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Best Human Resource Management Colleges by State

Explore the best human resource management schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	307
Georgia	190	123
Virginia	182	201
North Carolina	178	77
Tennessee	166	107
Alabama	151	95
Kentucky	147	41
Louisiana	147	118
South Carolina	146	153
Mississippi	145	13
Arkansas	121	2
West Virginia	112	56

View All Rankings >

Human Resource Management Related Rankings by Major

Human Resource Management is one of 21 different types of Business, Management & Marketing programs to choose from.

HR Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration	778
Human Resources Development	263
Organizational Behavior Studies	199
Labor & Industrial Relations	53

Majors Similar to HR

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management	28,300
Accounting	4,166
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	4,156
General Business/Commerce	3,230
Marketing	739
Finance & Financial Management	688
International Business	531
Management Information Systems	416
Hospitality Management	346
Entrepreneurial Studies	258

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Arunkumar Umapathy. More about our data sources and methodologies.