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Uncategorized   |   Jun 4, 2012

Where to get a master’s degree in teaching

By Angela Watson

Founder and Writer

Where to get a master’s degree in teaching

By Angela Watson

Sadly, if you attend online classes at Marygrove, you do not get to experience this beautiful campus. Click through for image source.
Sadly, if you attend online classes at Marygrove, you do not get to experience this beautiful campus. Click through for image source.

You may have noticed some recent mentions of Marygrove College around the site: in the sidebar, or maybe in the Ask Angela Anythingpost series. I’m pretty selective about the companies and organizations that I partner with, and wanted to let you all know why I think Marygrove is an excellent institution that I’m proud to be associated with.

The way I see it, there are 3 main problems that most teachers encounter when getting their masters degree. First, it’s generally expensive, and school districts aren’t covering the costs the way they used to. It’s also time-consuming. Who wants to teach all day and then go sit in a classroom at night and be lectured to by some boring professor spouting off about educational theory? And of course, the biggest problem: the content is often irrelevant to classroom practice. If the course work was useful, getting a master’s degree would be a lot less painful. But most teachers I talk to say that their master program had very little connection to their daily work.

Marygrove College has been addressing these issues for, oh, a hundred years–they issued their very first teaching certificate in 1914. In the past decade, more teachers have earned their Master in the Art of Teaching (MAT) degree from Marygrove College than from any other college or university. That’s due in large part to the fact that Marygrove was one of the first accredited colleges in the country to offer a distance learning master’s degree. Though there is a physical campus in Detroit, Michigan, the online courses have allowed 28,000 K-12 educators from all over the country to get their graduate degrees.

Here are some of the things that set Marygrove apart:

  • They get a lot of referrals from past graduates: 90 percent recommend the program to their colleagues.
  • You can get a masters degree in less thantwo years (88 percent of Marygrove graduates do so.)
  • Online courses mean you can work at your own pace, whenever and wherever it’s convenient.
  • You can communicate via online discussion boards and reflective journals OR apply for a face-to face group of three to eight teachers in your district or local area. This is perfect for people who don’t like typing and staying on a computer all the time. (Obviously I’m not one of them.)
  • Every MAT student has a mentor teacher and a cohort for support so you’re not struggling on your own.
  • Tuition is reasonable. The 30-credit program costs roughly $13,200. That’s $440 per credit hour. And you can get a tuition discount if you enroll with friends or colleagues as a group of five or more.
  • They’re a sponsor and partner of The Cornerstone, which makes the school automatically awesome.

The Master in the Art of Teaching program offers six core courses and four focused programs of study: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment K-12,  Elementary Reading & Literacy K-6, Elementary Mathematics K-5, and Middle Level Mathematics 6-8. Basically, whatever grade level(s) and subject(s) you teach, they’ve got you covered.

So, that’s why I think Marygrove College is a really good option for those who want to get a master’s degree in teaching. Have you gotten your masters degree at Marygrove, or know of anyone who has? Share your experiences in the comments.

Disclosure: Marygrove College compensated me for the time I spent writing this post. However, all opinions are solely mine. I don’t review or recommend any products or services unless I truly believe they’re a worthwhile investment for educators.

Angela Watson

Founder and Writer

Angela created the first version of this site in 2003, when she was a classroom teacher herself. With 11 years of teaching experience and more than a decade of experience as an instructional coach, Angela oversees and contributes regularly to...
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