Education, School of

University of South Dakota
School of Education
Student Services Office
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: 605-677-5612
http://www.usd.edu/ed

Degrees Available from the School of Education at the University of South Dakota:

GRADUATE CERTIFICATES:
American Indian Education
Literacy, Leadership, and Coaching

MASTER OF ART
Elementary Education
Secondary Education
Special Education
Counseling and Psychology in Education
Kinesiology and Sport Science
Educational Administration

MASTER OF SCIENCE
Technology for Education and Training

SPECIALIST IN EDUCATION
Curriculum and Instruction
Counseling and Psychology in Education
Educational Administration

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
Curriculum and Instruction
Educational Administration

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Counseling and Psychology in Education

Interim Dean: Hee-sook Choi
Associate Dean: Linda Reetz
Assistant Dean: Kristine Reed

In 1927, The Regents of Education formally established the School of Education for the preparation of teachers. Over the years, resources from across the University have been involved in the preparation of professional educators. In each of the subject-matter areas such as fine arts, humanities, languages, mathematics, sciences, and social sciences, the student has a chance to study under the best instructors in the region.

The School of Education continues to give the same educational excellence that it did at the very beginning in 1927. The shared vision of the School of Education is that of Learning and Leading through Reflective Practice. Programs and courses are designed to meet the needs of teachers, supervisors, counselors, administrators, and other personnel who are directly concerned with teaching or with kinesiology and sports science. The School of Education’s academic programs are organized to include four divisions: Curriculum and Instruction; Kinesiology and Sport Science; Counseling and Psychology in Education; and Educational Administration. Field-based experiences are integrated throughout graduate programs to provide practical application, reflective decision-making, and continual development of life-long learners and leaders.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has accredited all the School of Education programs for the preparation of elementary/secondary teachers, and school service personnel through the Doctorate degrees. All programs leading to teacher certification or other school services licensures are approved by the State Board of Education of the South Dakota Division of Education (DOE).

Admission Requirements to Graduate Programs in the School of Education:

Students are admitted to graduate programs in the School of Education by department recommendation to the Graduate School. There are two levels of admission as outlined below. Admission into masters, specialist, and doctoral programs has varying levels of expectations. (Some programs within the School of Education have higher or additional requirements. See specific division and program requirements for all exceptions.)

Full Admission: Students meeting the criteria will be fully admitted to do graduate study in the School of Education. Each division will determine how and when the student becomes a candidate for the Ed.D. degree. Select programs may have admission standards above these requirements.

Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution.
Undergraduate GPA of 2.7 or above.
GRE scores of 141 or more (in both verbal and quantitative). Many programs require higher scores. Some programs in the School of Education accept the Miller’s Analogy Test (MAT) score 45 (scaled = 403). See individual programs.
Applicants with M.A./M.S. degree from an accredited institution must have a 3.0 graduate GPA.
Additional requirements exist for international students.

Provisional Admission: Students who do not meet the criteria for full admission may be admitted to graduate programs on a provisional basis for a trial term if they meet the following criteria and must move to full admission before completion of 18 hours.

Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution.
Undergraduate GPA of 2.5 or above.
GRE scores of 140 or above (in both verbal and quantitative). Many programs require higher scores. Some programs in the School of Education accept the Miller’s Analogy Test (MAT) score 35 (scaled = 388). See individual programs.
Three satisfactory professional recommendations.
Applicants with M.A./M.S. degree from an accredited institution must have a 3.0 graduate GPA.
Additional requirements exist for international students.

Exceptions: Students who are denied for any reason may petition through the Graduate School for a second review.

Doctoral Programs in the School of Education –

Core Course Requirement – The following core courses must be completed at the University of South Dakota:

A minimum of three semester hours from statistics courses EDER 762 or EDER 861.
A minimum of three semester hours from the five foundation courses:
AHED 715 Foundations of Global Lifelong Learning
EDFN 710 History of Education
EDFN 720 Philosophy of Education
EDFN 740 Comparative Education
EPSY 741 Cognitive Approaches to Educational Psychology
A minimum of one semester hour in dissertation seminar.

Advisory Committee – The division chairperson of the major will appoint a four member advisory committee with the approval of the Graduate Dean when a student becomes fully admitted. One member of the advisory committee must be from outside the major program division.

Credit Hour Requirements – A minimum of ninety (90) semester hours of graduate work (including fifteen (15) semester hours for the dissertation) beyond the baccalaureate degree including a minimum of sixty (60) semester hours beyond the master’s degree, or a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours beyond the Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree is required. At least forty-five (45) semester hours of graduate work (including dissertation) must be in the student’s major and at least fifteen (15) semester hours of supporting graduate courses must be earned in other options as determined by the student’s advisory committee. The balance of the coursework may be selected from any of the departments in the Graduate School. Note: a minimum of fifteen (15) semester hours of post specialist coursework in addition to the dissertation must be earned at the University of South Dakota.