Degrees & Majors

The applied behavior analysis program gives students the opportunity to work in a clinical and community environment to help people with disabilities. It teaches how to master basic behavioral-analytic skills, such as measurement, experimental design and various behavioral change components to help students become better therapists. Program highlights include collaborations with faculty members, opportunities for practicum internship placements and a cohort model that fosters lasting professional relationships. You will also learn client-centered responsibilities, such as problem identification, methods of intervention and implementation, management and supervision. This course also gives you important foundation knowledge, which includes the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Professional Disciplinary and Ethical Standards and Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts. Exam pass-rate data are not published for sequences with fewer than six first-time candidates in a single year or for sequences within their first four years of operation. To access current pass rates, current and potential students may visit BACB's Verified Course Sequences page. The coursework and practicum courses completed for the master of science degree in applied behavior analysis have been approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc. ® as meeting the coursework and experience requirements for eligibility to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst Examination ®. Applicants will have to meet additional requirements to apply. There is a non-degree version of this program. Please view the admissions requirements below.   New for 2020 - we have a new initiative that hopes to recruit, train and support graduate students interested in graduating with an M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis. The program is called Project Behavioral Early Education Scholars (BEES) and it can help provide financial support as you study for this degree. Learn more about this funding opportunity.

GSU is no longer offering a Career and Technical Specializations Education program. Interested candidates may click here to find a provider with an approved program for this area. The career and technical specializations certificate prepares people with practical and theoretical knowledge and skills to be successful in career and technical education classrooms and laboratories. Our certificate program, approved by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission for teacher certification, begins during the summer semester. Applications are accepted through the first week of summer classes or until the program is full. Students spend three weeks in the summer on Georgia State's campus, followed by a synchronous online class one night a week in the fall and spring. Students also participate in a student teaching practicum in which a Georgia State educator mentors them at their school of employment.

The clinical rehabilitation counseling program is an on-campus learning experience that prepares students to help people with cognitive, physical, sensory, psychiatric and other disabilities from all cultures, races and backgrounds. Rehabilitation counselors assist people with disabilities to become more independent, increase their access to education and employment and ensure they are respected members of society. This program was accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs through October 31st, 2027.

The Comprehensive Intervention Model (CIM) is a well-coordinated, Response to Intervention seamless design for providing intervention services to struggling readers. The CIM is a systemic model for reversing the reading failures of struggling readers through layered interventions, including differentiated classroom instruction and supplemental interventions in small groups or one-to-one. The goal is two-fold. In kindergarten through third grade, the goal is to increase the overall literacy achievement by the end of the third grade and to reduce the number of children identified with learning disabilities within 1.5% or less of the general population. In fourth through sixth grade, interventions focus on research-based strategies for reading and writing in the content areas.

The Corporate Learning Professional Certificate is a 12-credit-hour program of study. The content is the same as some of the courses taught in the M.S. Instructional Design and Technology program. The online program is for individuals interested in working in a wide variety of education, training and development areas such as those found in business, industry, government agencies, the military and nonprofit organizations. This certificate is designed to meet the challenges created by the growing demand for instructional design, eLearning development and alignment of learning results with business results and programs in corporate learning organizations. The program emphasizes the competencies required to design, develop, facilitate and evaluate learning and development programs. The goal of the certificate program is to help students meet the qualifications to advance in their field related to education and training, and open up additional avenues for the students to pursue a career in instructional design or human performance technology. Through a combination of classroom and practical activities, this program provides participants with the opportunity to design, develop, manage and evaluate corporate learning solutions that make effective use of best practices and industry standards of development. Ample opportunities are provided for applying the competencies learned in the classroom to job-related situations.

Our counselor education and practice degree is for you if you are interested in educating, training and supervising future clinical mental health, rehabilitation or school counselors. This program is also for those interested in research, social justice and advocacy in the counseling profession. Move forward towards obtaining a doctorate degree to better enhance your career choices. Our Ph.D. degree is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). This program allows future students to generate their own research, critically enhance their counseling competencies and learn new skills in teaching and supervision. Upon completion, students teach and supervise in university settings, work in community agencies as clinicians and administrators and become directors of practice and research institutes. Program Performance Data 2018-2019 Students also have the capability to continue specializing and developing areas of expertise in:

• Multicultural counseling
• Play therapy with children and adolescents
• Trauma and stress
• LGBTQ issues in counseling and counselor education
• Disability, health and chronic illness
• Suicide and crisis
• Program evaluation
• Quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methodologies

The Ed.D. program in curriculum and instruction prepares master teachers to become instructional leaders and curriculum specialists who wish to develop expertise in advocacy for equity in teaching and learning, curriculum theory, and development and pedagogical leadership. Our Ed.D. program consists of a rigorous, collaborative, interdisciplinary program that promotes an understanding of the complex dynamics among theory, research and practice. Our graduates are empowered scholar-educators who advocate for social justice and educational equity at the classroom, school, district and state levels. Grounded in educational research, our interdisciplinary courses offer students the opportunity to conceptualize, theorize, dialogue, problem-pose, problem-solve, create and evaluate a wide range of educational theories, practices and policies related to curriculum and instruction. Concentrations include art education, early childhood and elementary education, language and literacy education, mathematics education, middle-level education, foreign language education, music education, science education and social studies education.

Our early childhood and elementary education program will prepare you to be researchers and teacher educators in areas such as applied research, curriculum development, teacher education, literacy/digital literacy, multicultural education, science education, math education and more. Our doctorate degree prepares you to move into various roles and content areas in the early childhood and elementary education fields. You will learn to be active scholars informed in the historical, political, developmental and theoretical paradigms that shape education in today’s rapidly changing world. Through coursework, research and teaching apprenticeships and individual mentoring, you can become inquisitive researchers and reflective teacher educators equipped to affect the lives of children, their families and the larger society.

The education of students with exceptionalities degree will teach you to become a leader in the field of special education. The experience you bring from your work in the special education field will enable you to learn how to teach others. We will help you enhance the skills you'll need to succeed in university positions as teachers of those wishing to teach special education and/or to provide leadership in a variety of community, state or national service agencies.