MSE Secondary Education

Overview

The Master of Science in Education (MSE) with an Emphasis in Secondary Education qualifies candidates to seek licensure in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Science, Middle Level Science, History, Business and foreign languages. To qualify, you must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in the appropriate teaching subject area of the equivalent. This graduate program is offered 100% online and requires 27 credit hours for licensure. In addition, students must complete a field experience in the appropriate classroom and a semester of full-time student teaching, which can occur in any approved classroom within the United States. Students may not be employed as the teacher of record while in this program and will not be eligible for licensure until completion of the 27 credit hours along with passing required licensure exams. Students will have the option of completing the MSE degree by taking an additional 9 hours and passing comprehensive exams.

This degree is offered by the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Advanced Education Programs and is approved for licensure by the Kansas State Department of Education.

Important: Read Before Applying

• T2T vs MSE/Secondary Frequently Asked Questions.

     The following apply to Option 1: 

• Candidates will not be eligible to serve as the teacher of record in a K-12 or 6-12 classroom until after successful completion of licensure courses and passing the required exams.
• While all of the required courses are offered online, candidates will be required to complete a field experience practicum of approximately 80 clock hours over the course of a semester in an approved K-12 or 6-12 classroom. Additionally, candidates will also have to student teach, full-time for an entire semester, in an approved K-12 or 6-12 classroom.  FHSU has no influence over nor is it responsible for students’ employment status or the extent to which they can receive compensation during their practicum and/or student teaching experiences.
• Candidates are not required to live in Kansas and can complete their field experience and student teaching in any approved school in the United States. However, this program is only authorized to lead to licensure in the state of Kansas. If you are interested in obtaining licensure in another state, please review this link and then contact your home state department of education. FHSU does not work with other state departments of education to facilitate license transfers nor does it answer questions related to this.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

General M.S.E. Admission Requirements:

• Content area verification from the Teacher Education Graduate Program Coordinator at FHSU. (See “How and When to Apply below).
• Two letters of recommendation from people who can comment on your potential to be an effective educator in the content area you are pursuing.
• A written statement (of at least 250 words) that describes your professional reasons and motivation for pursuing licensure in your content area, which includes examples of the qualities and characteristics that will make you an effective educator. This statement should also reflect your ability to write and construct a narrative at the graduate level.
• A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0.  
• A grade of B or better in English Composition II and Speech/Oral Communication.
• A grade of C or better in College Algebra.
• Completed Admission Criteria Acknowledgement form.
• Completed Program Expectations form.
• In addition to overall GPA, students’ previous undergraduate academic performance will be evaluated.
• A consistent and successful academic history at the undergraduate level that demonstrates the student can successfully pursue education-related coursework at the graduate level and pass licensure exams. 
• Please note: Candidates must meet the undergraduate requirements. Subsequent graduate performance and/or degrees will not be considered.

Additional Departmental Requirements:

These requirements are not associated with the FHSU Graduate School. Students will be provided information after they have been accepted into the MSE program at FHSU

Candidates must pass the appropriate Praxis content exam related to their area of licensure (as required by KSDE) within the first 9 hours of graduate study . Candidates must check with their advisor before registering to take this exam. Candidates who fail to meet this requirement will not be allowed to continue in the program.

See www.fhsu.edu/cert/testing for test preparation resources and information.  FHSU has partnered with a company called 240 Tutoring that provides test preparation for the following tests at a discounted rate of $20/month:  English, Math, History, Physical Education and  Middle School Science.  If interested, contact Kerry Schuckman, kschuckm@fhsu.edu to get this rate.

Candidates will also need to meet the following criteria, which will be facilitated through an online, graduate course and are necessary to enter classrooms.  These requirements are not associated with the FHSU Graduate School and are not part of the initial application.

• Provide verification of completing a national background check that must be conducted after admission into the MSE program.
• Provide verification of a negative tuberculosis (TB) skin test that must be completed after admission into the MSE program. Most TB skin tests take three days to complete.

• Provide verification of professional liability insurance.

PROGRAM SUMMARIES

Option #1 leads to K-12 or 6-12 licensure for candidates who do not hold a teaching license .

*Candidates will be required to pass licensure tests in order to become eligible for secondary licensure in the state of Kansas. Additional information will be provided after program admission.

(These documents must be uploaded as part of the graduate application.)

• MSE Secondary Education Admission Criteria Acknowledgement
• MSE Secondary Education Program Expectations

HOW AND WHEN TO APPLY

1. To determine eligibility within the content area, email an unofficial copy of your transcripts to Dr. Valerie Zelenka (vlzelenka@fhsu.edu)
2. After content eligibility has been determined, go to the FHSU Graduate School Admission webpage for instructions and a link to the online application. Please note that although there is no application deadline, all applications must be approved and processed in Workday a minimum of two weeks before beginning a new semester to secure registration. 

 CONTACT INFORMATION

For information specifically related to the MSE – Secondary program, please email Dr. Valerie Zelenka ( vlzelenka@fhsu.edu ) or call the Department of Teacher Education (785-628-4204) for more information.