MA or MS in Special Education

The Department of Special and Counselor Education, Graduate School of Education, offers a Master of Science Degree in Education. A Master of Arts in Education may be awarded based upon documented proficiency in a foreign language. The Master's Degree in special education may be completed in conjunction with state teacher licensure or may be completed independently. Courses taken for licensure can be used to complete masters degree requirements. Students completing a master's degree must complete the special education master's degree core program. This core program must total a minimum of 12 credits and may include electives. A total of 45 graded credit hours are required for the degree.

All students must take SPED 590: Applied Behavioral Research and SPED 591: Issues in Special Education. These courses must be completed prior to beginning the culminating project. The culminating project may take one of three forms:

1. 6 credit hours of a special project* led by a faculty member;
2. 6 credit hours of master's thesis, or in the case of students completing the degree focusing on visual impairments
3. 6 credit hours of an approved focus area and a master's comprehensive examination (This option is available for students in the Visually Impaired Learner program only).

It is important to understand that teacher licensure programs and the degree programs are separate, although classes taken for licensure often apply to the degree program. Classes taken as Pass/ Fail may not be used for degree credit. All classes for the degree must be taken within 7 years of admission and only 15 hours may be transferred from another university and applied to the degree. For further information, you may refer to the PSU annual Bulletin or contact us.

*Use this link to find information about or apply for current special projects.