Specialist in Education Degree
The programs leading to the Specialist in Education degree are designed to provide a further specialization for instructional service and leadership personnel in fields of professional education and professional counseling. The degree requires completion of 27 semester hours after completion of the Master's degree. The programs of study are planned to achieve a distribution for the student's entire graduate program among the teaching field or area of competence, educational foundations, behavioral sciences, and electives.
The Specialist in Education degree is offered with majors in educational leadership, early childhood education, media (school library media and instructional technology), professional counseling, and special education.
Students seeking an Ed.S. degree should have previously completed requirements for a master's degree in the same field. Typically, eligibility for the level-5 certificate, based on master's-level work in the same field, must be established before admission to the Ed.S. program. Applicants must check with each program advisor to determine prerequisites needed for admission to the Ed.S. program. Courses taken prior to admission to an Ed.S. program will not count towards the hourly requirements of an Ed.S. degree program.
Only regular admission is used for the Education Specialist degree with the following minimum University System admission requirements being established: a master's degree from an accredited graduate institution, a 3.0 grade point average on all graduate work attempted, and satisfactory test scores. Contact the Graduate Studies Office for information concerning the graduate program to which you are applying for more information. MAT scores are not accepted for admission into the Ed.D. programs in School Improvement and Professional Counseling and Supervision. Scores from the ETS PRAXIS series or Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE) tests are not accepted for admission into Ed.S. degree programs. However, they may be required for certification. Each department offering the Ed.S. degree may set higher standards.
Research Project
Every research project presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an Ed.S. degree must involve independent study and investigation, explore a definite topic related to the major field, and meet the standards for research writing approved by the Graduate Studies Office.
The following regulations apply regarding the completion of the research project. The subject must be approved by the major professor and submitted to the Graduate Studies Office prior to admission to candidacy; the candidate must register for the research project during the time work on it is in progress; and two weeks prior to graduation, three word processed copies (original and two copies) of the research report (signed by the major professor and the Director of Graduate Studies) with abstracts attached to each must be filed in the Graduate Studies Office. Following approval, three copies of the research project will be bound and a copy microfilmed at the student's expense. It is necessary that the student submit only three copies of the research report to the Graduate Studies Office.
