The College of Education and Human Development and the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development's vision is “We transform lives.” The Master of Education offers two areas of specialization: the first in K-12 Educational Leadership and Policy (ELP) and the second in Higher Education Administration.
The K-12 Educational Leadership and Policy program’s mission is (a) to prepare leaders for public, charter, and private schools in Texas and the nation and (b) to prepare individuals to conduct research and/or teaching at a university, college, institute, or educational agencies. As a result of these dramatic changes, the K-12 ELP faculty is dedicated to attracting, mentoring, and preparing the "best, brightest, and culturally aware young leaders for key roles as superintendents, principals and university professors." To reach these goals, the faculty must nurture educational change agents who can focus on improving the technical core of teaching and learning and seek social justice for all students at all levels of education. It is important that the program meets the challenges of integrating theory and research as a resource that can be used to solve complex problems of administrative practice. The faculty members believe that both the school practitioner and the university professor must have skills in reflective practice and be prepared to integrate reliable formal knowledge with clinical knowledge, i.e., theoretical with craft knowledge.
As you make decisions about becoming a school administrator, the Master of Education (MEd) in Educational Administration program offers an array of options with a focus on K-12. If you are interested in become a school administrator, this program allows an individual to receive both a master's degree and complete the course requirements for principal certification in the state of Texas. The MEd in Educational Administration is designed for individuals who wish to become leaders in the public school field. This is a non-thesis degree. Students are admitted into a cohort which begins each fall semester. Students should complete the program in two years.
Upon successful completion of all required coursework and with the approval of the program faculty, students may sit for the (state principal examinations) if they:
- Complete all components of the required practicum experience
- Complete all preparation work recommended by faculty and provide a passing score exam certification practice exams (both 268 and PASL 368)
- Complete the SBEC online certification application
- Complete the College of Education and Human Development Certification and Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Developments Requirements
The Higher Education Administration emphasis prepares future academic and student affairs professionals to work in higher education administration. Higher education is a broad-based area of knowledge and study that examines the management and coordination of programs, policies, and processes pertaining to colleges and universities, including issues associated with access to higher education, admission, assessment and curriculum, enrollment and equitably serving all students, finance and economics, governance and law, learning/andragogy, administration, philanthropy, education policy, and college students.
Career paths in higher education vary widely, and are dependent on academic qualifications and job responsibilities required within and across colleges and universities. For example, the qualifications for entry-level academic advisors or activities director at a community college or baccalaureate granting institution are often more flexible than at a doctoral research university. Higher education administrators typically hold a masters or doctoral degree with a masters as the minimal preferred qualification for many entry-level positions. Graduates with a master’s degree can work in university housing, student activities, admissions and other areas of student affairs. Positions in academic affairs are also common, such as academic advisor, recruitment or retention specialist, development specialist, study abroad coordinator, or financial aid counselor. Other students are interested in education policy and may pursue a career in government policy in higher education. Occasionally, our students started working in higher education with a bachelor’s degree and realize they wanted a masters degree for career mobility or for professional development.
The M.Ed. in Educational Administration is only offered in an online format for the convenience of working professionals. This is a non-thesis masters degree with a culminating capstone project. The program is designed to run year-round with summer courses so students can complete the 36 credits in two calendar years. Students take courses in a loose cohort of two courses per semester, usually one required course and one faculty selected elective. While student can make substitutions including some in-person courses, it is designed as an online program and substitutions must be approved by the student’s faculty advisor.
This program is also approved for delivery via asynchronous distance education technology.
Program Requirements
Student’s Advisory Committee
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
After receiving admission to graduate studies and enrolling for coursework, the student will consult with the head of the department concerning appointment of the chair of his or her advisory committee. The student’s advisory committee for the master’s degree will consist of only the chair. The chair of the advisory committee must be from the student’s department.
Only graduate faculty members located on Texas A&M University campuses may serve as chair of a student’s advisory committee.
If the chair of a student’s advisory committee voluntarily leaves the University and the student is near completion of the degree and wants the chair to continue to serve in this role, the student is responsible for securing a current member of the University Graduate Faculty, from the student’s academic program and located near the Texas A&M University campus site, to serve as the co-chair of the committee. The Department Head may request in writing to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School that a faculty member who is on an approved leave of absence or has voluntarily separated from the university, be allowed to continue to serve in the role of chair of a student’s advisory committee without a co-chair for us to one year. The student should be near completion of the degree. Extensions beyond the one year period can be granted with additional approval of the Dean.
If the chair of the student’s advisory committee is unavailable for an extended time in any academic period during which the student is involved in activities relating to an internship, thesis or professional paper and is registered for courses such as 684, 692 or 693, the student may request, in writing, that the department head appoint an alternate advisory committee chair during the interim period.
The duties of the committee chair include responsibility for the proposed degree plan, any professional study or project, and the final examination. In addition, the committee chair is responsible for counseling the student on academic matters, and, in the case of academic deficiency, initiating recommendations to the Graduate and Professional School.
Degree Plan
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
The student’s advisory committee, in consultation with the student, will develop the proposed degree plan. The degree plan must be completed and filed with the Graduate and Professional School prior to the deadline imposed by the student’s college, and no later than 90 days prior to the date of the final oral examination.
This proposed degree plan should be submitted through the online Document Processing Submission System located on the website https://ogsdpss.tamu.edu.
Additional coursework may be added to the approved degree plan by petition if it is deemed necessary by the advisory committee to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation. No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Request for Final Examination or Request for Exemption from the Final Examination is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.
Credit Requirement
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
A minimum of 36 semester credit hours of approved courses is required for the Master of Education degree.
Transfer of Credit
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
A student who has earned 12 hours of graduate credit in residence at Texas A&M University may be authorized to transfer courses in excess of the limits prescribed above upon the advice of the advisory committee and with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater might be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Otherwise, the limitations stated in the preceding section apply. Coursework in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A or B) are earned (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit. Courses appearing on the degree plan with grades of D, F or U may not be absolved by transfer work. Credit for thesis research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for coursework submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours or equated to semester credit hours. An official transcript from the university at which the transfer coursework was taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions.
Courses used toward a degree at another institution may not be applied for graduate credit. If the course to be transferred was taken prior to the conferral of a degree at the transfer institution, a letter from the registrar at that institution stating that the course was not applied for credit toward the degree must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.
Grades for courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPA.
Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
Some departments may have more restrictive requirements for transfer work. If otherwise acceptable, certain courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirements for the master’s degree under the following limitations.
- The maximum number of credit hours which may be considered for transfer credit is the greater of 12 hours or one-third (1/3) of the total hours of a degree plan. The following restrictions apply:
- Graduate and/or upper-level undergraduate courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution, or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the student was in degree-seeking status at Texas A&M University, or the student was in degree-seeking status at the institution at which the courses were taken; and if the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution.
- Courses previously used for another degree are not acceptable for degree plan credit.
- The maximum number of credit hours taken in post-baccalaureate non-degree (G6) classification at Texas A&M University which may be considered for application to the degree plan is 12.
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A zero credit 684 or 685 course is only allowed for non-thesis option master's students. A zero credit 681 course can be used for either thesis or non-thesis option master’s students. Other courses, including 691 (Research) hours, are not eligible for zero credit.
- Any combination of 684, 685 or 690 may not exceed 25 percent of the total credit hour requirement shown on the individual degree plan:
- A maximum of 8 hours of 684 (Professional Internship) and/or
- A maximum of 8 hours of 685 (Directed Studies), and
- Up to 3 hours of 690 (Theory of Research).
- A maximum of 2 hours of 681 (Seminar).
- A maximum of 9 hours of advanced undergraduate courses (300- or 400-level).
- For graduate courses of three weeks’ duration or less, taken at other institutions, up to 1 hour of credit may be obtained for each five-day week of coursework. Each week of coursework must include at least 15 contact hours.
- No credit hours of 691 (Research) may be used.
- Continuing education courses may not be used for graduate credit.
- Extension courses are not acceptable for credit.
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For non-distance degree programs, no more than 50 percent of the non-research coursework required for the program may be completed through distance education courses.
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To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. This limitation also applies to joint degree programs.
Exceptions will be permitted only in unusual cases and when petitioned by the student’s advisory committee and approved by the Graduate and Professional School.
Final Examination
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
There is no final examination for this degree. The student will instead be required to successfully complete a required common course.
Additional Requirements
Residence
On-Campus Degree Program
A student must complete 12 credit hours in resident study at Texas A&M University to satisfy the residence requirement for the Master of Education degree.
Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of his/her employment to the Graduate and Professional School.
See Residence Requirements.
Distance Education Degree Program
The distance education modality does not have any residence requirement.
Time Limit
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
All degree requirements must be completed within a period of seven consecutive years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until seven years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework which is more than seven calendar years old at the time of the final examination (oral or written) may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.
Foreign Languages
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
No specific language requirement exists for the Master of Education degree.
Internship or Practicum
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
A student who undertakes a professional internship in partial fulfillment of master’s degree requirements after completing all course requirements for the master’s degree must return to the campus for the final examination. The final examination is not to be administered until all other requirements for the degree, including any internship, have been substantially completed.
Application for Degree
On-Campus and Distance Education Degree Programs
For information on applying for your degree, please visit the Graduation section.
