Programs of Study
Admission Requirements
Students applying for admission to the Master of Science program must obtain general admission to the
Division of Graduate Studies; however, this does not guarantee admission to the Master of Science program. Applications are accepted prior to March 1 of each year for summer and fall admission. Applications are accepted prior to October 15 of each year for spring admission.
Departmental Admission requirements for the program are as follows:
1. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
2. An overall GPA of 3.0 or above (on a 4.0 scale) on the bachelor’s degree.
3. A completed Master of Science program application.
4. Recommendations from three persons, one of whom must be the applicant’s supervising principal, or school district superintendent or assistant superintendent.
5. Acceptable evidence of the applicant’s writing ability as determined by a writing assessment completed under the supervision of the screening committee.
6. A successful interview with the program screening committee.
7. A recommendation for admission by the screening committee.
8. Valid teaching certificate.
9. At least 3 years of full-time teaching experience.
Academic Programs
Admission Requirements
Students applying for admission to the Specialist in Education program must obtain general admission to and submit required documents to the Division of Graduate Studies; however, this does not guarantee admission to the Department of Educational Administration, Foundations, and Research Specialist degree program in the specific area of concentration.
Departmental Admission requirements for the program are as follows:
- A master’s degree from an accredited college or university
- An overall GPA of 3.0 or above (on a 4.0 scale) on the master’s degree
- A completed Specialist program application
- Three letters of recommendation
- Acceptable evidence of the applicant’s writing ability as determined by a writing assessment
completed under the supervision of the screening committee
- A successful interview with the program screening committee
- A recommendation for admission by the screening committee
- A satisfactory GRE score
- A valid teaching license
- Deadline for applications for summer/fall admissions is March 1.
Retention Requirements
A minimum grade point average of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) on all graduate work earned in the Specialist in Education degree program is required.
Academic Programs
Admission Requirements
- A master’s degree from an accredited college or university
- An overall GPA of 3.0 or above (on a 4.0 scale) on the master’s degree
- A completed Specialist program application
- Three letters of recommendation
- Acceptable evidence of the applicant’s writing ability as determined by a writing assessment
completed under the supervision of the program/department screening committee
- A successful interview with the program/department screening committee
- A recommendation for admission by the screening committee
- A satisfactory GRE score
- A minimum of 6 years of successful employment in a community college or a four-year institution
- Deadline for applications for summer/fall admission is March 1.
Enrollment
Enrollment will be limited. Degrees will be awarded upon the candidate successfully completing all of the program requirements. Students applying for admission to the Specialist program must obtain general admission to the Division of Graduate Studies; however, this does not guarantee admission to the College of Education Specialist program in the specific area of concentration. Students must also complete specific departmental admission requirements (see above).
Additional Requirements
A specialist with a concentration in higher education administration requires the completion of 18 credit hours, 9 hours of core courses and 9 credit hours of electives. All candidates must receive a grade of B or above in each course to receive this degree. Candidates receiving a grade below B will have to retake the course before credits will be awarded. All courses are 3 credit hours and are generally offered once each semester depending upon the availability of the faculty. A total of thirty-six graduate credit hours are required to earn a specialist with a concentration in Higher Education Administration.
Academic Programs
Admission Requirements
- A master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university
- An overall 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) on Master’s Degree certificate application
- Three letters of recommendation
- A minimum of (5) years of successful employment in a public, private, or proprietary community college, college, or university, municipal, state or federal government agency
Academic Programs
Admission Requirements
Students applying for admission to the Ph.D. program must first obtain general admission through the Division of Graduate Studies; however, this admission does not mean automatic admission to the Ph.D. Program. Applications are accepted year-round for admission each fall. Applications must be submitted prior to March 1. All students seeking admission to the Ph.D. Program must meet the following criteria:
- A Master’s degree from an accredited university.
- A completed Ph.D. program application.
- An overall GPA of 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale) on the highest earned degree.
- Transcripts for all post-secondary, graduate work attempted prior to submitting a program application.
- A satisfactory score on the GRE or on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) taken in the past 5 years.
- Recommendations from three (3) persons knowledgeable of the applicant’s professional academic ability, job experiences, and leadership potential.
- Acceptable evidence of a student’s writing ability as determined by a writing assessment completed under the supervision of the department admissions committee
- A successful interview with the program committee.
- Recommendation for admission by the Admissions committee.
- Concentration in K-12 administration requires evidence of the past three years of successful classroom teaching documentation.
- At least three years of full-time teaching experience.
- A minimum of 5 years of successful employment in a public, private, or proprietary community college, college, or university, municipal, state or federal government agency.
Conditional Program Admission
Conditional admission may be granted to individuals who have obtained general admission to the Division of Graduate Studies but who do not meet regular program admission requirements. All students admitted via the conditional program admission will be required to take a common core of nine (9) semester hours of regular graduate courses during their first semester of enrollment. During this specified period, conditional students must earn a minimum 3.0 GPA in the program of study taken at Jackson State University (transfer hours will not apply) in order to achieve regular status.
Once the nine hours are completed, conditionally admitted students will be interviewed a second time by the program screening committee before they are allowed to continue to matriculate in the Ph.D. program. The department screening committee will notify the chair of the department of the results of the second interview. The chair of the department will notify the student by certified mail or university email and a conference with the student will occur before further enrollment. All conditionally admitted students will follow the “Time Limits” policy as stated in this Catalog. If a 3.0 GPA is not attained in the first nine (9) hours attempted, the student will be discontinued from the program. Conditional route admission is based on the following criteria:
- A Master’s degree from an accredited university.
- A completed program application
- Results of the GRE or MAT examination taken within the last five years.
- A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above on all graduate work (4.0 scale)
- Outstanding compensating strengths measured by the following criteria:
- Earned Master’s degree from an accredited institution.
- Earned GPA on all graduate courses completed.
- Writing ability
- Success in current employment
- Administrative experience and/or potential for administrative experience.
- Teaching/ work experience
- Communication skills.
- Transcripts of all post-secondary graduate work attempted prior to program application
- Recommendations from three (3) persons knowledgeable of applicant’s professional academic ability, job experiences and leadership potential such as previous college professors and supervisors
- Acceptable evidence of student’s writing ability as determined by writing a sample under the supervision of the screening committee member.
- A successful interview with the program screening committee.
- Concentration in K-12 administration requires evidence of the past three years of successful classroom teaching documentation.
- Higher Education Concentration requires a minimum of (5) years of successful employment in a community college, education institution or with a state and federal government program.
Academic Programs
