This study surveyed graduate programs of Higher Education Administration within the Southeastern United States in order to identify programs perceived to be "excellent" and to profile their predominant characteristics. A 10-item survey instrument was developed and mailed to the program director, chair, or coordinator at all Southeastern higher education graduate programs as identified in the Association for the Study of Higher Education directory. A final response rate was 79 percent or 22 institutions. The resulting data, including a self-ranking among participants of the top programs, provided a cross-section of program characteristics in the region and a perceived standard of excellence in these graduate programs. Virtually all programs offered a Doctor of Education degree and some form of Master's degree. Most programs were relatively small in comparison to their counter-parts in humanities and other areas of education. The publication records of faculty suggested that scholarship was important. Only half of all programs offered some form of graduate student organization. Those programs that respondents ranked as the top three were those at the University of Georgia, Florida State University, and the University of Virginia. Concerns emerging from the study were high student-to-faculty ratios and possible over-reliance on adjunct and part-time faculty. (Contains 13 references.) (JB)