Campbellsville University is a quiet success story in the annals of Kentucky educator preparation and certification. Once you know about it, though, you’ll hardly be tempted to look anywhere else for advanced degrees in special education, though.
Though founded as an institution of higher learning way back in 1906, Campbellsville only achieved university status in 1996. The School of Education and its graduate degree programs were a key piece of that achievement.
The school has been growing rapidly ever since. With more than 13,000 students enrolled as of 2020, it rivals several public universities in the state for size. When it comes to quality, of course, there’s no comparison—a private Christian liberal arts university like Campbellsville will always have an edge when it comes to academic excellence.
Campbellsville has campuses and instructional sites located all over Kentucky, including in:
- Elizabethtown
- Harrodsburg
- Somerset
- Hodgenville
- Owensboro
- Louisville
But through expansive online programs, such as the online Master of Arts in Special Education (MASE), the school’s reach is in fact even broader than that list suggests.
Kentucky Teachers Know That Empowerment Should Be at the Top of the List of Qualities in Master’s-level Education Studies
Campbellsville offers academic excellence through empowerment. The instructors here offer support and guidance to give you the tools you need to take your studies in a direction of your own choosing.
That’s particularly true at the graduate level. Modern trends in the use of technology and behavioral intervention strategies aren’t just being taught here—professors have used and developed them personally in the field.
While online degrees bring the distinctive excellence of Campbellsville School of Education degrees to a broad audience of students all over Kentucky, some programs actually take the students out of the state—and out of the country.
An annual trip to Belize for students both offers the opportunity to do good and to expand horizons. Led by School of Education professors, the Campbellsville students collect donations and raise funds for supplies for orphanages and schools.
While the supplies themselves are badly needed by the recipients, the process of delivering them in person offers something that education students need, too: both cultural and practical experience in classrooms unlike any they will find at home.
The students are temporarily licensed by the Belize Ministry of Education during their visit to act as teachers while they are in the country. In the meantime, faculty chaperones offer in-service training for the regular teachers.
It’s a win/win/win for Campbellsville students, Belizean teachers, and the kids themselves.
On top of that, the online format of the program delivers high-level learning with tremendous flexibility. It’s a style that both recognizes the commitments that educators at this level have in their daily lives, as well as offering the flexibility for professional growth delivered on your terms.
Campbellsville Puts Equal Value on High-Quality Academics and Individual Diversity
Although Campbellsville is a Christian university with a course of instruction rooted in faith, it’s also a place that welcomes diverse opinions and fresh ideas.
Nowhere is that more useful than in the field of special education.
That Christian ethos is ideal in preparing educational professionals with a firm grounding in the concept of servant leadership. But it’s equally important to find a school that is open to new ideas in a field that changes as quickly as special education.
You’ll find professors here who are involved in pushing that state of knowledge forward from every angle. And, equally important, they place value in your own experiences, ideas, and career trajectory.
Online Master of Arts in Special Education
Kentucky is a standout in handling special education students. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the state staffs at least one special education teacher for each 15 students with an IEP (Individual Education Plan). That’s right in the top ranks for the country overall.
But sheer numbers are never the end of the story. The quality of those teachers is important, too—and that’s why the MASE from Campbellsville is key to keeping Kentucky special education effective.
The curriculum is delivered by expert instructors with decades of real-world experience in special education classrooms. That means firsthand experience in working with kids with autism, functional mental disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, and development issues of all sorts.
They’ve dealt with all the bureaucratic hoops that go with IEPs (Individual Education Programs), writing district special education policies, and hunting down grants to close the funding gaps.
Every student benefits from that real-world classroom management and administrative expertise.
Picking a Concentration to Take Your Special Education Career in Any Direction You Choose
The MASE comes with two available concentrations, both of which offer a valuable addition to the ranks of special educators in the state. Whether you are currently a bachelor’s-qualified professional interested in stepping up into a vital leadership role or are just coming into the profession and need to meet your ITP (Initial Teacher Preparation) requirements, Campbellsville has a spot for you.
- Teacher Leader – Teacher Leaders are important, licensed instructional roles that offer a view from the trenches and leadership within the ranks. Nowhere is that more important than in special education. The Campbellsville master’s option both qualifies you for your official stamp of approval in this role, and gives you the advanced knowledge and leadership skills to be effective in your school as a teacher leader among other teachers.
- Initial Certification – The initial certification option includes coursework that meets Educational Professional Standards Board of Kentucky requirements for licensure. But you can expect more than just the minimums in coursework and experiential learning placements—the latest in pedagogical techniques for teaching special ed as well as methods for dealing with emotional and behavioral disorders end up in your toolbox.
The entire program is designed to be completed in 18 months regardless of your choice of concentration.
No matter where you are in Kentucky, either of these degree options offer the key to unlocking a new and valuable career in special education instruction.
