Early Childhood Education Master’s Degree
Students who wish to be certified as early childhood educators have the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree in early childhood special education (ECSE) in a reduced period of time (one academic year and two summers). After completing the child and family studies degree, qualified students may apply for graduate study in the School of Education at Syracuse University. Students enrolled in this degree program will receive a 30 percent reduction in their graduate tuition. Students desiring to pursue this option should complete the child development specialization, including CFS 367 , and complete these specific liberal arts requirements beyond those listed for the major:
- a one-year sequence (two courses) of college-level mathematics (may also fulfill the math/foreign language requirement in the liberal arts core);
- two sciences with laboratories (physical sciences recommended);
- at least one class in history (which may count toward fulfilling liberal arts core requirements in the social sciences or humanities, depending on the course); and
- an art history course (e.g. an FIA course that would also meet a humanities requirement).
The Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) graduate program requires that undergraduate writing, mathematics, and laboratory sciences courses have grades averaging no less than a B- with no grade below a C. Students are required to demonstrate competency in a foreign language either by successfully completing the first year of college study in a language (e.g. SPA 101 at Syracuse University) or by providing official documentation of successful completion of Level III of foreign language in high school. Interested undergraduate students should contact the School of Education about taking EDU 303 to further reduce the number of graduate credits required for the degree.
Interested students should work closely with their academic advisors to meet these requirements.