Education Degrees, Certificates, and Teaching and Educational Specialist Credentials

Graduate College of Education

Dean: Dr. Cynthia Grutzik

Departments

Elementary Education
Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies
Secondary Education
Special Education

The primary mission of the Graduate College of Education is to prepare reflective, transformative educators, clinicians, leaders, and scholars who advance the broad profession of education across the lifespan through excellence in the art and science of teaching and learning, research on critical issues in education and communicative disorders, integration of new technologies, and commitment to equity and social justice. Our programs are designed to meet global challenges through authentic learning experiences in academic and clinical environments that are grounded in our commitment to inclusiveness, integrity, community, social action, and evidence-based practice.

Core values of the GCOE are adapted from the SF State Strategic Plan, including Courage, Life of the Mind, Equity, Community, and Resilience. These values resonate with the GCOE and our commitment to social justice. We embrace these five values and have adapted them to align with the mission of the GCOE. 

  • Courage: Courage enables us to develop a sense of agency that engages students, staff, and faculty in speaking their voices and having their voices heard in forums that honor the contributions of all. 
  • Life of the Mind: Our programs are informed by research, our research is informed by evidence-based practice, and our practice is grounded in our professional commitments as educators, activists, practitioners, and clinicians. Collaboration with communities is an integral component of our scholarship, with a focus on uncovering funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth.
  • Equity: Our focus on equity addresses a broad range of persistent, structural social justice issues, including race, class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and other forms of marginalization in the 21st century, globalized California.
  • Community: Our programs promote a climate of inspiration and inclusivity, and are characterized by strong linkages to local and global communities at all levels, birth through adult, in formal and non-formal educational contexts.  
  • Resilience: Our work in collaboration with diverse school, community and clinical settings implies that resilience takes many forms, ranging from promoting transformative resistance to fostering global sustainability, creating an environment that is marked by the generosity of spirit, supporting a thriving environment of mutually supportive human relations.

To carry out the mission and vision of the college as reflected in these core values, the Graduate College of Education offers certificates, credentials, masters’ degrees in education (in specific disciplines), doctorates in education and philosophy degrees (jointly with UC Berkeley). The chart below lists the programs and degree offerings in the Graduate College of Education.

Degrees, Credentials, and Certificates in the Graduate College of Education

Master's Degrees

Name of degree or program Department
Master of Arts in Education, with concentrations in:
Early Childhood Education Elementary Education
Educational Administration Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies
Elementary Education Elementary Education
Instructional Technologies Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies
Special Interest Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies
Master of Arts in Equity & Social Justice Education Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies
Master of Arts in Special Education (Early Childhood Special Education, Mild to Moderate Support Needs, Extensive Support Needs, Orientation & Mobility, Visual Impairment) Special Education
Master of Science in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Teaching & Services Credentials

Name of degree or program Department
Administrative Services (Elementary & High School Principal) Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies
Bilingual Authorization Elementary Education
Clinical or Rehabilitative Services (Orientation & Mobility) Special Education
Education Specialist (Special Education) Special Education
Multiple Subject Instruction (Elementary Education) Elementary Education
Pupil Personnel Services Counseling, Psychology, & Social Work
Reading and Language Arts Specialist Elementary Education
Single Subject Instruction (Middle and High School) Secondary Education
Speech-Language Pathology Services Credential Communicative Disorders

Graduate Certificates

Name of degree or program Department
Augmentative and Alternative Communication Communicative Disorders
Autism Spectrum Special Education
Inclusive Early Childhood Practices Special Education
Training Systems Development Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies

Doctoral Degrees

Name of degree or program Department
Ph.D. in Education: Concentration in Special Education Special Education
Ed.D. in Educational Leadership Graduate College of Education

Bachelor of Science

Name of degree or program Department
Bachelor of Science in Speech, Lanugage, and Hearing Sciences Speech, Lanugage, and Hearing Sciences

Minor

Name of degree or program Department
Education Graduate College of Education
Special Education Special Education

For an overview of the paths one might pursue to become a teacher or professor or to get started on another career in education, please visit Teaching and Educational Services Credential Programs.