M.Ed. in Special Education

Current and future provisional special education, general education teachers, please see the NEW Course Finder tool to plug in your VDOE requirements to identify courses at VCU School of Education that fulfill these requirements.

 
The M.Ed. in special education prepares scholars for faculty and leadership roles, and provide aspiring educators with the tools they need to make a difference in the lives of children, youth and adults with disabilities through research, teaching and service.

Successful completion of our degree programs can lead to endorsement in areas such as early childhood special education, special education: general education curriculum or special education: adapted curriculum.

The M.Ed. in special education with a concentration in general education can also be pursued as part of the Richmond Teacher Residency program, an innovative graduate teacher residency that pairs candidates with an experienced mentor in Richmond Public Schools.

The early childhood concentration works collaboratively with our Child Development Center as well as has a variety of grant funding opportunities listed through the link below.

In addition to the instruction from our nationally-recognized faculty, our master’s students in our adapted curriculum concentration are part of a Virginia consortium program that supports professionals across the state.

Major Maps and Handbooks

Current VCU undergraduate students can use the individualized Major Map for the M.Ed. in special education to maximize their undergraduate program to prepare for their future School of Education masters program.

CONCENTRATIONS/VCU BULLETIN INFO

PROGRAM BASICS

How to apply: Graduate application
Semester of entry: Fall, spring, or summer
Application deadline: Mar. 15 (summer/fall); Nov. 1 (spring)
Application deadline for Project PIRRMay 15
Late applications reviewed on a case-by-case basis

Resources and Checklists

Application checklist [PDF]

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

MORE IN-DEPTH INFO

Certificate in Special Education K-12 Teaching alumni - Application to M.Ed. in Special Education, General Education concentration

Certificate in Special Education K-12 Teaching completers are able to transfer/utilize courses completed toward the M.Ed. in Special Education-General concentration program. This means that you may only need 12 (4 courses) graduate credit hours to complete a master’s degree in special education. There is a time limit to your courses to transfer into your program. It must be within 7 years of when you began your certificate, thus we recommend you apply in your final semester of your certificate program. Note: This transfer only applies to the general education concentration.

Please utilize this Checklist and FAQ document and reach out to soeinfo@vcu.edu or the program coordinator with any additional questions.

Program Concentrations

The School of Education (SOE) degree programs that lead to professional licensure are designed to prepare students to meet the requirements for professional licensure in the Commonwealth of Virginia as outlined by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). The SOE has determined that the curriculum includes applicable educational prerequisites for the following professional licensure(s) and/or certification(s) as outlined on this page of our website.

Ready To Get Started?

Jenna Lenhardt, Ph.D.

Contact Dr. Lenhardt with initial inquiries.

Sabrina Evans

Contact Sabrina Evans for RTR program application.

Contact Dr. Spence for Early Childhood concentration inquiries.

Contact Dr. De Arment for General Education concentration inquiries.

Contact Dr. Mehtaji for Adapted Curriculum concentration inquiries.