The Department of Educational Psychology offers a non-thesis program that leads to the degree of Master of Education (MEd) in Special Education. Successful completion of this degree can lead to a certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. This degree program is intended for individuals with a solid background in education, behavior, disability, or related fields. A teaching certificate is not required, but teaching or clinical experience working with individuals with disabilities is highly desirable.

This program is approved for delivery via asynchronous distance education technology.

Program Requirements

• Student's Advisory Committee
• Degree Plan
• Credit Requirement
• Transfer of Credit
• Limitations on the Use of Transfer, Extension and Certain Other Courses
• Final Examination

Student’s Advisory Committee

Upon admission to graduate studies and enrollment, the student will be appointed a chair for his or her advisory committee. For the M.Ed. in Special Education, the chair may function as the sole member of a student's advisory committee. The chair must be a member of the graduate faculty, from the student’s department, and located on a Texas A&M University campus. Other Texas A&M University graduate faculty members located off-campus may serve as member or co-chair (but not chair) of student advisory committees.

If the chair voluntarily leaves the University near completion of a student's degree, the student may select another chair or has the option of working through the Department Head to secure permission from the Graduate and Professional School for the chair to continue in that role for up to one year. Extensions beyond the one year period can be granted pending additional approval from the Dean.

A chair's signature on the degree plan indicates his or her willingness to accept the responsibility for guiding and directing the student's entire academic program and for initiating all academic actions concerning the student. The chair typically provides immediate supervision of the student’s research and 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

The student’s chair, 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 Exemption from the Final Examination is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Credit Requirement

A minimum of 36 semester credit hours of approved courses is required for the Master of Education degree.

Transfer of Credit

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 chair and program faculty and with the approval of the Graduate and Professional School. Courses with a final grade of B or greater that were taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution may be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the courses would have been 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 for which no formal grades were given or for which grades other than letter grades (A or B) were 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

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. A maximum of 2 hours of 681 (Seminar).
6. A maximum of 9 hours of advanced undergraduate courses (300- or 400-level).
7. 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.
8. No credit hours of 691 (Research) may be used.
9. Continuing education courses may not be used for graduate credit.
10. Extension courses are not acceptable for credit.
11. 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.
12. 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

The Final Examination is not required for the Master of Education degree in Special Education.

Additional Requirements

• Residence
• Time Limit
• Foreign Languages
• Internship or Practicum
• Application for Degree

Residence

The distance education modality does not have any residence requirement.

Time Limit

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

No specific language requirement exists for the Master of Education degree.

Internship or Practicum

Master of Education in Special Education students are not required to do an internship or practicum.

Application for Degree

For information on applying for your degree, please visit the Graduation section.