What does a Masters Degree in Special Education entail?

Special Education is a need of the hour as millions of children and adults are affected by a lack of educators pertaining to this arena. A professionally and personally fulfilling career, obtaining masters in special education can take your career to great heights. In the United States, many special education teachers are satisfied with school teaching without holding a master’s degree; however attaining a specialization in this field offers a plethora of opportunities.

1- Prerequisite Course History

Universities acknowledge the fact that students enrolling for a Master Degree Special Education Program need not have a background specifically related to the said field. Therefore, to accommodate students from diverse educational backgrounds and to provide an equal opportunity of admission to all, almost all institutions require the completion of a certain set of courses before the commencement of the master’s program. Pre-requisite courses that can be taken on-campus include education foundations, child psychology, human development, teaching fundamentals, and other undergraduate-level courses that are relevant to knowledge building for children with special needs. Please note, this requirement is essential only in some schools for candidates without a bachelor’s degree in education, a few schools also accept passing credits transferred from other institutions.

2- Requirements of Undergraduate Degree

A general requirement to pursue a Masters in Special Education is that the candidate must hold a four-year bachelor’s degree from a recognized U.S. higher learning institution. Admission committees will require submission of official transcripts from every school that you have attended in the recent past; this is inclusive of community colleges as well. Though, the undergraduate degree may need to be specifically based on special education, especially for programs that do not provide initial teaching licensure, but this requirement varies from university to university. A wide variety of majors can be accepted as long as they are even remotely associated to Education.

3- Past Academic Performance

Admission into a graduate school is more competitive owing to the complexity of educational programs. Candidates who fail to fulfill the academic performance requirements are not considered to be enrolled into the Master’s program at all. A cumulative GPA of minimum 3.0 during the last 50 credits of one’s undergraduate degree is required. Additionally, many departments make it mandatory for candidates to submit the tests scores of the Graduate Records Exam (GRE). This is basically done to assess a candidate’s broad-based knowledge and skills, to know whether he or she is able enough to succeed in masters in special education.

4- English Language Proficiency

International students aiming to apply for this education program in the United States must take note that they shall be required to take English Language proficiency tests such as IELTS or TOEFL, as an evidence of their reading, writing and spoken English skills. A band of 7 or higher is generally accepted though it varies greatly according to the University one hopes to get admitted into. To know the exact band needed, it is better to check with your course counselor.

Become a Special Education Supervisor, Autism Specialist/Autism Coordinator, Educational Consultant, Program Coordinator or Management personnel in the Federal agencies! With a master’s in special education, the career prospects are endless. However, you must realize that each educational department of Master Degree Special Education can have its own distinct set of requirements that are necessary to get admitted. As such there are no pre-defined standards that ought to be fulfilled to obtain a master’s in special education. To advance your career in this field, you must contact your prospective graduate school and research their specific requirements.