Nowadays the sphere of higher education is developing very dynamically, it acquires all new features, and its functional, structural, organizational and qualitative principles are changing. In the context of continuous development of the educational services market, competitiveness is no longer just a term in economics, it is the philosophy of an educational institution, which includes all the diversity of strategic and tactical methods for its vital activity and successful development. The purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a methodological approach to assessing the competitiveness of master programs. It is based on the definition of the integral competitiveness coefficient on the basis of specific indicators of educational activities, strategic positioning and financial sustainability of the educational program. This approach will allow an objective assessment of the level of competitiveness and develop a number of management decisions to improve the university's positions on the educational market. / На сегодняшний день cфера высшего образования развивается очень динамично, она приобретает все новые черты, при этом меняются ее функциoнальные, структурные, организационные и качественные принципы. В условиях непрерывногo развития рынка oбразовательных услуг конкурентoспособность - это уже не просто термин в экoномике, это филосoфия рабoты образовательного учреждения, которая включает всё разнooбразие стратегических и тактических приемoв для его жизнедеятельности и успешногo развития. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка методического подхода к оценке конкурентоспособности образовательных программ магистратуры. В его основе лежит определение интегрального коэффициента конкурентоспособности на основе специфических показателей образовательной деятельности, стратегического позиционирования и финансовой устойчивости образовательной программы Данный подход позволит объективно оценить уровень конкурентоспособности и выработать ряд управленческих решений для улучшения позиций вуза на образовательном рынке.

Since 1970s neoclassical economics has been identified as a major obstacle for reaching sustainability. Despite the world's growing attention to sustainability education, there has been just few attempts to assess the content and the competency building of sustainable development (SD) postgraduate programs. None has been evaluating if and how economics is integrated in such curricula. This study fills this gap in the empirical research by conducting a novel assessment of six leading SD transdisciplinary master programs in Sweden. Our study uses a qualitative approach to inquire how these programs teach students to understand, challenge and reorient dominant neoclassical economics and the reasoning behind it. Results revealed that the absence of an agreed-upon definition of both the economy and sustainability lead to the wide range of approaches on how to introduce the place and the role of the economy. Every program relies on their own understanding, perspectives and resourcefulness, while agreeing that their teaching should challenge neoclassical economics and engage their students in the various scales of system change. Yet, the time allocated to economics teaching does not exceed 8% of the programs ECTS. We argue that economics should take a much bigger place in postgraduate SD education. A proposed “transdisciplinary economics” calls for more collaboration with students, academia and outside of academia in a joint search for economic alternatives.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the perceptions of critical strategies and challenges for shaping Masters' programs in public relations in California universities. Using a qualitative approach, this study reported the findings from Web site review and interviews with leaders at four California institutions offering graduate work in Public Relations. Four primary findings included: (1) Masters' degree programs in public relations fell into a wide range of disciplines and titles. (2) Close connections with industry practitioners strengthened curriculum and assessment. Connections often occurred through the use of practitioners as adjunct faculty, allowing current perspectives on public relations practices and use of media. (3) Experiential learning and authentic activities, both in the classroom and through internships, were critical. (4) Each program was designed to give students both the theoretical foundation and the practical application of the profession. These findings confirmed theoretic frameworks for ideal graduate education programs and professional frameworks from Public Relations Society of America. The study concludes with recommendations for practice. First, a high quality graduate program would include multiple perspectives from diverse faculty and participants. Second, a high quality graduate program would emphasize participatory cultures, incorporating a shared program direction, and a community of learners. The third attribute of a high quality graduate program in public relations would foster a community of learners. Planned breadth and depth course work would be the fourth important element. The last recommendation for developing and sustaining a high quality graduate program would be to attain or pursue adequate resources.