Master of Science in Education in Special Education with Certification Online

Follow your passion and gain the certification you need to become a special education teacher or intervention specialist.

Apply by: 1/3/25
Start class: 1/13/25 Apply Now Apply Now

Program Overview

Why you want the MSEd. in Special Ed with Certification online

Prepare to teach and address the needs of students with mild to moderate disabilities and complete your special education certification in the Master of Science in Education in Special Education with Certification online. This program includes courses focused on data literacy skills, varied assessment methods, and approaches for teaching numerous subjects and exceptional learners, including literacy in elementary and secondary schools.

Coursework is 100% online and will build your knowledge for addressing the needs of a range of unique learners. You will be trained to adapt instructional strategies for each student, create inclusive learning environments and use multiple methods of assessment to determine teaching strategies. Finally, you’ll graduate and be eligible for the Special Education Initial Professional Certificate from the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. Our MSEd. in Special Ed with Certification is the only program offering graduates both a master's degree and a direct route to a SPED certificate upon completion!

If you are a non-Missouri student, you should determine whether this online special education program fits the certification requirements for your state.

Graduates of this online degree will be able to:

  • Collaborate with stakeholders in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences
  • Select, adapt and use a repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies to advance learning of individuals with exceptionalities
  • Create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments so that individuals with exceptionalities become active and effective learners and develop emotional well-being, positive social interactions, and self-determination
  • Use multiple methods of assessment and data-sources in making educational decisions
Graduates of this online degree will be able to:
  • Collaborate with stakeholders in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences
  • Select, adapt and use a repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies to advance learning of individuals with exceptionalities
  • Create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments so that individuals with exceptionalities become active and effective learners and develop emotional well-being, positive social interactions, and self-determination
  • Use multiple methods of assessment and data-sources in making educational decisions

Career opportunities include:

  • K-12 Special Education Teacher
  • Resource Program Teacher
  • Intervention Specialist
Career opportunities include:
  • K-12 Special Education Teacher
  • Resource Program Teacher
  • Intervention Specialist

Accreditation:

AAQEP logo

Northwest Missouri State University is accredited by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) and is recognized by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education™ (DESE) and the Higher Learning Commission.

Also available:

Northwest offers a variety of specialized online education program options. Check out our other online education programs.

Total Tuition $23,460*
Program Duration As few as 18 months
Credit Hours 60

Accreditation:

AAQEP logo

Northwest Missouri State University is accredited by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) and is recognized by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education™ (DESE) and the Higher Learning Commission.

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Need More Information?

Call 844-890-9304

Call 844-890-9304

Tuition

Fit tuition into your budget

Our online master’s in special education with certification program offers affordable, pay-by-the-course tuition, which is the same for in-state and out-of-state students. All fees are included.

View additional tuition information+

Program Per Credit Hour Per Course Per Program*
MSEd. in Special Ed with Certification $391 $1,173 $23,460

Important Refund Information

2nd day of class Last date for 100% refund for dropped course
4th day of class Last date for 75% refund for dropped course
6th day of class Last date for 50% refund for dropped course
8th day of class Last date for 25% refund for dropped course

Tuition breakdown:

Total Tuition $23,460*
Per Credit Hour $391

Transfer your credits for lower tuition

Use our Tuition Estimator to see how affordable your degree could be. Slide the notch to the number of credits you've already earned—which may qualify for transfer credit—to get an estimate of what your degree might cost.

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Transfer Credits: 0
Your Estimated Tuition: $16,140
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Transcripts sent from other colleges and universities will be evaluated, and accepted credits will be added to the student's A-State record. The Tuition Estimator is not a guarantee or predictor of the number of credit hours that will be accepted.

Calendar

Upcoming deadlines to meet

Northwest online programs are delivered in an accelerated format ideal for working professionals, conveniently featuring multiple start dates each year.

View full calendar  + 

TermProgram Start DateApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlineRegistration DeadlinePayment DueLast Class Day
Spring 11/13/251/3/251/6/251/7/251/8/252/28/25
Spring 23/10/252/24/252/27/253/3/253/5/254/25/25
Summer 15/5/254/21/254/24/254/28/254/30/256/20/25
Summer 26/23/256/6/256/11/256/13/256/17/258/8/25
Fall 18/25/258/11/258/14/258/18/258/20/2510/10/25
Fall 210/20/2510/6/2510/9/2510/13/2510/15/2512/5/25

Now enrolling:

Next Apply Date: 1/3/25
Next Class Start Date: 1/13/25
Ready to take the next steps toward

earning your degree?

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Admissions

What it takes to get the SPED MSEd. with Certification

At Northwest, we've streamlined the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. Please read the requirements for the MSEd. in Special Education with Certification online, including what additional materials you need and where you should send them.

Admission Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
  • GPA of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale
  • Official transcripts from all institutions attended
View all admission requirements +

To apply for this program, you must meet these requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
  • A minimum overall GPA of 2.75 on the undergraduate transcript OR an overall undergraduate GPA of 2.50 to 2.74 with a 3.0 GPA on six hours of required graduate coursework at Northwest in the major program where admission is requested
  • Official transcripts from all institutions attended

Official transcript(s) can be emailed to: [email protected].

To submit official documents by mail, send them to:

Graduate Records Specialist
Northwest Missouri State University
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468-6001

Have a question? Call us at 844-890-9304.

Click here for State Authorization information.


Admission Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
  • GPA of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale
  • Official transcripts from all institutions attended

Courses

The MSEd. in SPED courses that will lead to your certification

For the MSEd. in Special Education with Certification online, the curriculum is comprised of 20 courses (60 credit hours). If you are not currently teaching, you will also need to complete EDUC 61690, an 8 credit hour teaching internship course.

Expand All
Students must take EDCI 62642 (Introduction to Teaching Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities) first and take EDCI 62699 (Capstone in Special Education) last.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This is an introductory course designed to provide an initial understanding of K-12 students with mild to moderate disabilities, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, and physical and other health impairments. **Required first course for the MSEd in Special Education with Certification program.**
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Specifically designed for candidates for the Alternative Certification and Post Bac certification. Provides instruction in the psychology of teaching and in the psychological development of the child/adolescent. Also, offers basic instructional skills for differentiated learning and an opportunity to prepare and practice the instructional techniques to be utilized in the first teaching experience.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is the first semester course for the first-year students in the Alternative Certification and Post Bac track. The course focuses on beginning instructional strategies including critical thinking and problem solving strategies, teaching models, classroom management strategies, etc. The purpose of this course is to help beginning teachers acquire and master a wide variety of teaching skills, strategies, and styles.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Designed to assist Alternative Certification and Post Bac pre-service teachers to develop more sophisticated teaching strategies, to understand and use data from a variety of assessment strategies to monitor learner progress and to diagnose and address classroom learning programs and issues, to conduct action research, and to integrate technology into the classroom.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will focus on the development of skills related to finding, evaluating, analyzing, prioritizing and integrating data sources for the improvement of student learning. Students will retrieve data, develop an action plan for improvement, and create a project demonstrating proficiency in data literacy.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students who complete this course understand and demonstrate the capability to promote the success and well-being of each student by applying the knowledge, skills and commitments necessary for equitable protocols for student support, equitable access in a least restrictive environment, responsive practices for culturally responsive teaching and leadership, and a supportive school culture that ensures each student and family is treated fairly. 27 hours field experience embedded in the course.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A study for the special education teacher in the identification and referral of exceptional individuals with communication disorders. Topics include the development, characteristics and disorders of language, speech and hearing in the exceptional individual. Focus is on establishing interactions that are supportive of communicatively handicapped individuals in special education programs.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will provide an in-depth look at methods used for teaching Math through observation and practice to students with math deficits/disabilities. Teacher candidates will learn how to identify students with deficits/disabilities in the areas of math and understand their unique needs, select, use, and implement evidence-based strategies and instructional interventions for students with math deficits/disabilities, analyze standards to create learning objectives, select content and resources, conceptualize a unit, prepare and implement a lesson plan with the effective use of technology, devise and evaluate assessments, and use data to evaluate student progress.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to inform literacy leaders of best practices in literacy-based assessment, data analysis and decision-making, and effective communication of results to multiple stakeholders.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A study of methods and materials used in teaching elementary mathematics, including remedial mathematics.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides the student with an understanding of principles, methods, and procedures of transition and career education for students with disabilities. The course includes the process for organizing a program to assist youth in choosing, preparing for, entering upon, and making adjustments in transitioning across childhood and from school to post-secondary options with a focus on the linking of resources in the transition from school to a wide-range of adult settings.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to examine literacy methodologies, instructional approaches, and resources in the elementary grades as it relates to theory, current research, and practice.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to examine literacy methodologies, instructional approaches, and resources in the secondary grades as it relates to theory, current research, and practice.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Procedures, responsibilities and problems relating to the administration of special education programs. These experiences should include, but not be limited to, the following: administrative patterns, legal basis, financial aspects, placement conferences, managing the IEP, placement alternatives, program evaluation, inclusion, and grant development. Prerequisite: EDCI 62642 and EDCI 62643, or permission of instructor.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Discussion of strategies designed to foster effective collaborative, conferencing and communication skills. These skills will enhance partnerships between families of students with exceptional needs, general and special education teachers, para educators, and other support personnel.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Methods and strategies, including numerous examples of curricular and instructional methodologies utilized in teaching K-12 students with mild to moderate disabilities such as learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, and physical and other health impairments.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to provide teachers with both technical and functional understanding of applied behavior analysis, as well as strategies for the everyday applications of behavior management in classrooms and other educational settings. Evidence-based behavior intervention practices to assess, change, or modify behavior will be explored while exploring the concepts, assumptions, misconceptions, and historical foundations of behavior.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course includes the administration and interpretation of the most commonly used individual tests of ability and achievement used to evaluate students and make data-based decisions with an emphasis in the areas of special education and reading.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This course will provide an in-depth look at methods used for teaching Science and Social Studies in Special Education settings through observation and practice for students with disabilities. Teacher candidates will analyze standards to create learning objectives, select content and resources, conceptualize a unit, prepare lesson plans, devise and evaluate assessments, and effectively use technology in the classroom.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This capstone course will provide an avenue for scholarly study of current professional literature on a variety of current issues and trends in the field of special education. Designed to complement and extend student's study of relevant topics. As a part of this course, students will complete the written assessment of competency mastery. **Required last course for the MSEd in Special Education with Certification program.**
Only required if the student is not currently teaching.  Teaching Requirement: Two full years of teaching experience in a full-time special education teacher role is required under a provisional license.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 8
A supervised teaching internship in a secondary school for graduate students seeking secondary certification. Prerequisites: EDUC 61650 and 61651, appropriate special methods course or courses, and permission of the Director of Educational Field Experiences.

Top Public School

Northwest Missouri State University is #22 in U.S. News & World Report's "Top Public Schools, Regional Universities Midwest" rankings (2024)

Highly Qualified Faculty

100% of classes are taught by professionals, not graduate assistants

*Tuition and fees are based on current rates. Textbooks and laptops are not included with tuition.

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