Educational Leadership - Education Specialist (Ed.S.)

The Education Specialist degree (Ed.S.) provides a planned program of graduate studies beyond the master’s degree. It is designed to enhance the content knowledge, skills, and dispositions of educational leaders prepared to meet the increasingly complex challenges of the 21st century. 

The Ed.S. degree serves the following three specialty areas:

1. Central Office Administrative Endorsement (24 cr.)
2. Directorship of Special Education Approval Program (30 cr.)
3. Director of Special Education Approval with Central Office Administrative Endorsement (36 cr.)

**For Special Education Supervisor Program, click here

Program Requirements:

• A minimum cumulative GPA of 3. 00 in graduate work is required.
• An earned master’s degree or higher from a regionally-accredited institution.
• Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate competence in English. The College requires a score of 550 or higher on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) written exam, 79 or better on the computer-based version, or 79 or better on the Internet-based version. For the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam, applicants must achieve a score of 6. 5 or better.

 Admission Requirements

• Applicants must submit an application for admission and meet with the Ed. S. Program Coordinator prior to acceptance into the program.
• Applicants must submit official transcripts from each college or university where college credit was earned to the Office of Graduate Admissions. A student copy of transcripts may be submitted with the online application. All official transcripts must be received by the beginning of the term the applicant has applied.
• Applicants who have completed credit at SVSU do not need to submit a copy of their SVSU transcript. However, they will be required to request a new set of transcripts from other colleges/universities where they earned credit to ensure that the College of Education has the complete academic history on file for admissions and state certification purposes.
• A student who has already completed a master’s degree at SVSU, or another institution, may not transfer any credits that were used toward his/her first master’s degree. Courses may not be duplicated. The advisor, department chair and the dean must approve all course substitutions.

Admission Regulations

• A minimum grade point average of 3.00 (“B”) is required for graduation. No credit toward graduation is granted for courses with grades below “C”. If the cumulative GPA falls below 3.00 at any time after accumulation of 12 credits at SVSU; the student may, based on the circumstances of the individual, be dismissed from the program.
• A maximum of nine (9) semester hours of equivalent graduate course work earned at other regionally-accredited institutions may be accepted by transfer upon admission, including SVSU, upon recommendation of the Ed. S. Program Coordinator and approval by the Dean of the College of Education. A grade of “B” or higher must have been earned in each transfer course.
• All credits and requirements toward an Ed. S. degree, including transfer credits, must be completed within seven years prior to the date on which the degree is to be conferred. SVSU credits remain valid for a maximum of seven years.

Candidates may be interviewed by the Ed. S. admission council. Admission to the program will be made only for the Fall and Winter semesters. Application materials must be submitted to the Admissions and Certification Office in the College of Education by July 1 (for Fall admission) and by November 1 (for Winter admission).