Specialist in Education (Archived 2016-17 Graduate Catalog)

The Specialist in Education program is post-master’s work designed primarily to provide advanced preparation in the major fields of Administration and Supervision and Reading. Admission procedures and degree requirements are outlined in the major field descriptions. To locate major field descriptions, consult the Graduate Programs Offered section in this catalog.

Admission Procedure
Applicants for admission to the Specialist in Education program must comply with all requirements outlined in the “Graduate Admission” section of this catalog. In addition, applicants must present evidence of satisfactory experience as teachers or of experience appropriate to the field of specialization. Applicants for the Specialist in Educational Administration and Supervision who have successfully completed a master’s degree are not required to submit GRE scores.

Degree Requirements
Students are required to complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate course work beyond the master’s degree including all specific requirements for the degree and for certification where relevant.

Practicum or Field Service Experience: This phase of the program must be appropriate to the area of specialization.

Cognate Field: Any specific requirements are stated under the field or specialization description.

Students should have a Tentative Degree Program on file early in the Ed.S. program. Students must achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all graduate work to be eligible for the degree.

Comprehensive Examination
In addition to the regular course examinations, students are required to pass a comprehensive examination during the final period of registration for course work.

Completion of Work
Candidates must complete all requirements for the Ed.S. degree within six years of the date of initial enrollment. Time served in the armed forces or on approved leave of absence is exempt from this limitation.

Transfer Credit
A minimum of 63 post-baccalaureate semester credits are required for the specialist degree. Typically, 33 of these credits are acquired while completing a master’s degree in a related field; hence, a minimum of 30 post-master’s semester credits are usually needed for completion of the specialist degree. Up to six semester hours of graduate work may be transferred into the post-master’s component of the specialist degree with the approval of the program area and Graduate College. Under no circumstances, however, may graduate credits be transferred into the 30- hour post-master’s component of the specialist degree if they are also applied toward another degree.