Majoring in Philanthropy

Edward Caldwell, for The Chronicle

GAINING SUCCESS BY DEGREES Nonprofit programs are proliferating at colleges and universities. One of the oldest programs is at the University of San Francisco, where Robert Glavin, who has spent decades working for nonprofit groups, is a professor.

GROWING INTEREST among young people in nonprofit careers and greater emphasis on effective management have fueled an explosion in courses to train nonprofit leaders.

ONLINE EDUCATION gives students a chance to do graduate course work in nonprofit management while also caring for a family or holding down a job.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIES help students at Case Western Reserve's Mandel Center take a flexible approach to their careers.

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS in the master's program at the University of San Francisco must have spent at least two years working for a nonprofit organization.

SCHOLARLY RESEARCH is a hallmark of the nonprofit-management program at Indiana University, which has recently added a doctoral program in philanthropic studies.

A SOCIAL-WORK PROGRAM at the University of North Carolina has evolved to include instruction in nonprofit management and community work.

CERTIFICATES in public management are increasingly popular among graduates of Stanford University's business school.

NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY attracts students who appreciate its emphasis on social responsibility and its teachers with jobs in the nonprofit world.