Online Master's Degrees in Special Education

You can start any of our special education master's degree programs during summer and fall semesters.

• If you are interested in the Patton College Teaching Fellows graduate assistantship, you must begin your studies during summer semester.

The Pre-Kindergarten Special Needs Endorsement (PKSN) accepts new students every semester.

The first-priority application deadline to start in the summer AND fall semesters is April 3. Applications must be completed in full (all materials submitted) by 11:59 p.m. on the final application deadline of April 15. Visit the Graduate Application website to start your application.

You should ask people with whom you have worked academically or professionally to write your letter(s) of recommendation, so faculty members or colleagues with whom you have worked directly are ideal.

The purpose of a letter of recommendation is to demonstrate proof of your ability to succeed in graduate-level work to the faculty who will be evaluating your application. So, the letters should point to your aptitude for and commitment to the field of special education (and the students), and, ideally, give examples of your scholarly aptitude, original thinking, determination, and persistence. The key thing is that these letters are speaking on your behalf to show that you are a good fit for the field of special education, online study, and/or graduate-level study. Personal/character recommendations are not appropriate.

Transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions are required in order to evaluate your application and official transcripts must be requested directly from the institution. However, if you have an unofficial transcript (a copy of an official transcript that bears the school seal and Registrar's signature), you may attach that to your application where it will be used solely for the purpose of evaluating your application. If you apply with an unofficial transcript, an official transcript MUST be received before the end of your first course or a hold will be placed on your account and you will not be able to register for future courses until it is received.

OHIO requires an official transcript to be sent directly from all institutions where you completed your bachelor’s degree and any post-graduate work (but transcripts are not required for study abroad experiences). Copies of transcripts you have in your possession are not official and while they can be used to evaluate your application, those unofficial documents would result in a conditional admission, pending receipt of your official transcripts. 

Submitting official transcripts : Official transcripts may be mailed directly from the institution or delivered electronically to Ohio University’s Graduate College (use  graduate@ohio.edu ). Paper transcripts must arrive still sealed in the original envelope in which they were released by the issuing institution. The mailing address needs to include your full name and your Ohio University PID number and/or your date of birth (month/date/year). Mailing address: Graduate College, Your name, Pxxxxxxxxx or date of birth xx/xx/xxxx; 1 Ohio University; Grosvenor Hall 102; Athens, OH 45701.

This evaluation is a manual process so please allow a minimum of one week for processing. To accommodate all processing times, please do not request a transcript evaluation less than 30 days prior to the application deadline for the semester in which you want to begin classes. 

All courses are online and there is no face-to-face coursework to complete. The fieldwork associated with your program will be completed in your community and we will work with you to arrange those hours.

For our endorsement program, teachers take one course at a time and are able to begin during any semester.

Yes. There may be synchronous small group requirements with some courses but these sessions will be scheduled by the participating individuals. There is no synchronous requirement for all classes.

Last year, the cost of the program was $523 per credit hour for Ohio residents. Your actual out-of-pocket cost may vary, depending upon whether you attend full-time or part-time and whether or not you have an educational background that may meet some basic course requirements (determined by a review of your transcript as part of the application process). 

The Office of the Bursar provides the cost of the program each year. For additional questions about tuition and fees, reach out to the Office of the Bursar - their email address is Bursar  and phone number is 740.593.4130.

Most of our courses, including all three Pre-Kindergarten Special Needs Endorsement courses, are 3 credit hours. The cost of each of these courses is roughly $1,600, but you should check the Bursar's website for current rates.

The Master's of Special Education programs have Athens campus fees. All of our endorsement programs have e-campus fees. Visit the Office of the Bursar's website for a complete breakdown of all fees .

The PKSN endorsement program is not eligible for federal financial aid. However, workplace professional development funding is often available so be sure to check with your employer's human resources department. Our Office of the Bursar is able to accommodate external sponsors .

Federal financial aid is available for the master's degree programs, including the TEACH Grant, which is a federal aid opportunity for some special education majors who agree to certain post-graduation requirements. You start the process of applying by completing the FAFSA and you can learn more about it at Student Aid . 

In addition, the Office of the Bursar offers a payment plan that will split the balance of the current term into installments.

You can choose how many credit hours you wish to take to fit your schedule best. We allow master's degree students to have full- or part-time status so there is no minimum if you are not receiving financial aid. The maximum per semester is 18 credit hours. If you are receiving financial aid, there is a minimum of 6 credit hours per semester.

PKSN Endorsement students take one 3-credit-hour course per semester.

For the PKSN, OAE 013 is required to have the endorsement added to your license.

For the Early Childhood Intervention Specialist (ECIS), the OAE 190 (Foundations of Reading), OAE 057 (Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Primary), and OAE 058 (Primary Special Education) are required for licensure.

Both the Mild to Moderate (MMIS) and Moderate to Intensive (MIIS) master's degrees require OAE 043 (Special Education), 090 (Foundations of Reading), and 004 (Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Multi-Age) for licensure.

For individuals seeking their first license in Mild-Moderate, Moderate-Intensive, and ECIS, they do not have to take the (004 or 001 respectively) if they complete a Professional Internship and earn a score of 37 on the edTPA which is completed during the Professional Internship.

You can take the test(s) at any time, whenever you feel prepared. The tests simply must be completed in order for licensure to be awarded or for the endorsement to be added to your license.

The program requires a total of 60 field hours, which typically breaks down to 20 hours per course. This has to be with children aged 3 to 5 with disabilities or developmental delays. We're pretty flexible as long as it meets that population requirement, so this could entail working in a classroom, summer camp, Sunday School, one-on-one tutoring, etc.

Field experience, which is part-time work in a classroom with a mentor teacher, is required of all students. Professional Internship (PI), which is full-time student teaching, is required unless you are a licensed teacher in your own classroom or have already completed a Professional Internship and have documentation of doing so.

No courses in the PKSN endorsement can be waived.

There is only one course from the PKSN program that can be waived in the ECIS master's degree program, which is EDSP 5830.

If you already hold a license in a different area, you can complete a master’s with an additional special education license in one year. If not, it would take at least four semesters at full-time status.

Teachers who are licensed as Intervention Specialists are not able to serve as general education teachers. General education licensure requires additional levels of content-area expertise as well as a grade-level band specialization.

Ohio University does not currently have a fully online program that results in eligibility for general education teacher licensure.

Our program results in a master’s degree with eligibility for state of Ohio licensure as an Intervention Specialist but Ohio University and The Patton College participate in the  State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) . If your state also participates, your coursework would be recognized but you would need to contact your state’s higher education commission for specific details on how to complete the licensure requirements. 

The professional internship requires you to be in a classroom setting full time Monday through Friday and that requirement must be met in order to receive licensure. Some students have had to leave their current positions but it could be possible to be hired by a school district at a site that can be used for your professional internship.

The process for alternative licensure starts with the Ohio Department of Education . You submit your materials to them as you apply for alternative licensure. They will tell you the courses you need to complete and then you apply to our program (either as a master's degree student or a non-degree student) and we work with you to complete the courses they require of you. You must be employed by a district and the district applies for the alternative license on your behalf. Ohio University offers the fully online Professional Development Institute , which is the final step to transition your alternative license to a professional license.

We review applications holistically so a low GPA is not necessarily an automatic disqualification. If your GPA is significantly lower than 3.0, you can take the GRE and submit that score for consideration. Also, be sure to include an explanation in your autobiographical statement and include at least one letter of recommendation from a faculty member who can speak in support of your aptitude for graduate work, if at all possible.

You absolutely can choose where you do your field work, and all 60 hours do not need to be at the same place. As long as the hours are with children aged 3-5 with disabilities or developmental delays, they will suffice.