Hey everyone, I'm a newb although I've been reading posts on this forum for a while. I have a couple of questions...I'm graduating from a brick and mortar school in Virginia in 2010. I'm starting an in person licensure program in my area afterward which I'm very enthusiastic about because they know me personally and it's just really great. The problem is that they don't have MA options, just post-bac licensure. I really don't care but I plan to teach overseas and soo many job posts offer salary increases/extra perks/more consideration if you have an MA, in anything, even if not completely related. So I'm looking for something affordable (my parents will pay it but still) and something that wouldn't be extremely impossible to complete while working on my licensure program. I mentioned I live in Virginia and I was looking at Liberty U's education graduate programs but I'm not Christian so I feel slightly uncomfortable that they incorporate that into almost every course. Also there were practicums and extra on-site things required and although I only live about an hour from them, I don't want to do my observations/student teaching twice... So I looked at APU because I used to live in WV and am very familiar with Charles Town (not necessary for online degrees but I do like that I'm familiar with the area) but all the Education degrees either require you to be already licensed or you're going to do the license with them. So my final question is: Does anyone know of a masters program online in teaching or education or anything along those lines that I can complete online (I don't need the fieldwork/internship/etc bc I'm doing that near where I live) and that doesn't require licensure prior to starting but also does not require that you pursue licensure with them during the program? Thanks greatly for any help
Check out this thread - a good many online programs here. http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=32631 Shawn
sz2, Upon graduation are you going to participate in an alternative post-bachelorette teaching certification program? Is so, you could probably transfer some of those hours into a master’s program in that alternative certification program hours should be graduate-level courses ... at least in Texas they are.
It sounds from your first post that the main reason you want the degree is to get a salary boost, and that any regionally-accredited masters would fit the bill, is that correct? So, for example, would a master's in liberal studies suffice, or would it need to be an MEd or MSc in Education or something like that?
Hey everyone thanks for the replies! Emmzee - I honestly don't think the degree subject matters for the masters, but also I wouldn't want to do something like business cause my undergrad is in English and Biology. But if I had to I guess I will, I guess I just said Education because I like the classes in that field. Major56 - You know it's not really an alternate program, although I am familiar with the Texas system. Because they require a BA/BS degree prior to entry and it's called "post-bac" but the courses are ED 110 for instance...I dunno Virginia's weird lol. Shawn A - Thanks for that thread! I'm checking out the links now.
Ian Anderson - no I will. I majored in English and Biology and I'm saying I can't start this post-bac licensure program until I have evidence of a bachelor's degree...which wont be until August 2010...I'm not sure how I was confusing but sorry about that
Well I looked at that thread btw but I couldn't find a program not requiring licensure before or without pursuing it. So it looks like my only options are to pursue an MEd and licensure at the same time and forget the postbac program in my area or to do an MA in something else. Oh well. I'll think more about this though and look into my options, thanks everyone! Feel free to contribute if you find anything though
If any masters will do, you may want to check out doing an interdisiplinary / liberal studies degree. It gives you a lot of flexibility and there are some cheap options available. This recent thread lists several programs: http://degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=32784 In particular, check out the WNMU program: http://www.wnmu.edu/VirtualCampus/InterdisciplinaryMasters.htm You can choose two or three areas of concentration from their list (for example, education & english, or elementary education & writing) and the program, by my calculations if you take 6 credits (2 courses) per semester, works out to about $5000 (not including books and stuff like that.) Here's tuition information: http://www.wnmu.edu/admin/businessaff/Tuition_Fees/2010/Silver%20City%20Campus%20Non-Resident%20Tuition%20and%20Fees%20Fa%2009-Sp%2010.pdf
sz2, Alternative certification in education in Texas consists of 12-graduate hours of which 9-hours would be in your teaching /certification specialty and 3-hours of a generic education course (e.g., at Prairie View A&M University where I completed their alternative certification program /post-bachelorette that course was Planning & Assessment of Instruction). In that Texas and Virginia (along with several other states) have NASDTEC (National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification) reciprocity agreement for educators, I would believe the coursework prerequisite would be comparable. Moreover, you might want to ensure that the college /university's post-bac program you choose has NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) accreditation.
