Special Education: M.Ed. - Master of Education

Admission Requirements

Students may enter the program during the summer, fall, or spring semesters. Admission requirements that apply specifically to this program are listed below:

Prerequisites

• Successful completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution

Admission Requirements:

• Two recommendations solicited through the online application from faculty and/or employers
• A goal statement that integrates past experiences, explains how this program supports professional goals, and describes how this program and the chosen area of emphasis is a good -fit for the applicant. It should be 1-2 double-spaced pages or no more than 500 words in length.
• An updated resume
• Transcripts (uploaded to the online application).
• Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all required materials are submitted by the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be read and may be canceled if left incomplete. Materials should be tracked using the checklist in the application. Decisions are typically made within three weeks of the application deadline.

Visit our Graduate Admission page for the full admission process.

Transferring Credits

A maximum of 6 credit hours can be transferred into the program if the course is determined by the advisor to meet a number of conditions (e.g., graduate-level, is equivalent in rigor and focus to a course offered in the program of study, the student earned a grade of B- or higher, and the course was successfully completed less than 5 years from the date of admission to the program).

Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores are NOT required as part of the application process. International students must submit TOEFL or IELTS scores. Scores must not be more than 2 years old. Applicants who have or will have earned an undergraduate degree from an institution where English is the primary language of instruction do not need to provide TOEFL or IELTS scores. 
 

Information for Current UVA Undergraduates
If you are a current UVA undergraduate interested in a direct admission option into this program, please view our Direct Admission Option page.

Guaranteed Admission for UVA Undergraduate
For UVA B.S.Ed. graduates, the UVA School of Education and Human Development offers a guaranteed admission option for recent teacher education graduates who meet eligibility requirements. Review the Guaranteed Admission page for more information. This option also requires a simplified application.

Coursework

To learn more about specific courses taken as part of the completion of this degree, visit the graduate record website. These webpages represent the official repository for academic program requirements.

All students in this program will complete 5 core requirements to include:

1. Legal Foundations of Special Education
2. Contemporary Issues in Special Education
3. Basic Principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis
4. Behavior Observation and Analysis
5. Master’s Comprehensive in Special Education (final course)

In addition to core requirements, students will select an area of emphasis from the following areas:

1. Applied Behavior Analysis (BCBA) - part-time only
   • Includes a verified course sequence required to sit for the BCBA examination
2. Special Education General Curriculum - part-time or full-time
   • Meets the requirements to add an endorsement in Special Education General Curriculum K-6, 6-8 or 6-12 in Virginia
   • Prerequisites For Obtaining An Add-On Endorsement in Virginia:
     • Teachers holding an Elementary Education (such as preK-3 or preK-6) endorsement are eligible for the Special Education – General Curriculum K-6 add-on endorsement.
     • Teachers holding a Middle Education (grades 6-8) endorsement are eligible for the Special Education – General Curriculum Middle Grades 6-8 add-on endorsement.
     • Teachers holding a Secondary Education endorsement in English, History and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, or Physics are eligible for the Special Education – General Curriculum Secondary Grades 6-12 add-on endorsement.

     • Teachers holding any other endorsement, including K-12 or preK-12 endorsements, are not eligible to add the special education endorsement through this course series.