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Our undergraduate Elementary Education program is available 100% online and consists of a total of 120 credit hours to earn a BSE degree. The Office of Field Experience & Licensure will allow for emergency substitute, substitute, and para-educator work to count toward hours during the required 20 hour elementary internship. Student teachers operate under the student teaching license and may not be a teacher of record. Click here for more information.
For those holding a bachelor’s degree, the graduate level program for Elementary Education is available 100% online. You can qualify for licensure upon completion of 27 credit hours and a Master of Science in Education (MSE) degree upon completion of 36 graduate credit hours. Click here for more information.
Licensed teachers in other subject areas will qualify for a provisional license for Elementary Education upon completion of 50% of the coursework (14 credit hours) and employment as an Elementary Education teacher in Kansas.
The Early Childhood Unified program is at the undergraduate level and is available 100% online. You can qualify for licensure upon completion of 71 credit hours (if already hold bachelor’s degree) or 120 credit hours (to qualify for BSE degree) which includes a semester of student teaching. Click here for more information.
Click here for more information about Secondary Education
If you hold a bachelor’s degree, the Transition to Teaching (T2T) restricted license program may serve your needs. It requires holding a bachelor’s degree or higher in a teaching subject area or the equivalent and obtaining a contracted teaching position in Kansas in the subject area that you qualify for as well as meeting other program requirements. It is a graduate level program of 24 credit hours for licensure and you can qualify for a Master of Science in Education (MSE) degree upon completion of 36 graduate credit hours. If you wish to obtain licensure in a subject area other than what you majored in, you can either take the deficient coursework to become qualified for the Transition to Teaching program or the MSE-Secondary Education program, or complete an undergraduate traditional program. Click here for more information about T2T.
If you live outside of Kansas or do not have current plans to obtain a job as a middle school or high school teacher, then the MSE-Secondary Education program may be the best option. You cannot be employed as a teacher of record while in this program. To qualify, you would need to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in a teaching subject area or the equivalent and it does not require you to obtain a contracted teaching position. Current available licensure areas are Business, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Science, Middle Level Science, History, and foreign languages. This is a graduate program offered 100% online and requires 27 credit hours for licensure and 36 credit hours for the MSE degree. For more information, email vlzelenka@fhsu.edu.
If you do not hold a bachelor’s degree, you will need to complete a traditional program. You will need to meet the coursework in the major area, the education courses, and a semester of student teaching. Click here to view the programs available through this route. The programs that have their major courses available all online at this time are Business and History. The Professional Studies (education coursework) is 100% online for all of the secondary areas.
To obtain licensure in Special Education in Kansas, you must hold a bachelor’s degree and have completed a teacher education program. The exception is the Limited Residency License program (see below). FHSU has programs for High Incidence, Low Incidence and Gifted.
If already a licensed teacher, you can earn a full endorsement in High Incidence Special Education or Low Incidence Special Education by completing 27 graduate credit hours and a MS degree by completing 36 graduate credit hours. This is available 100% online. Click here for more information. You can earn a full endorsement in Gifted by completing 15 graduate credit hours and a MS degree by completing 36 graduate credit hours. This is available 100% online. Click here for more information.
For licensed teachers that are hired as Special Education teachers, you can apply for a QPA Waiver with KSDE and begin working as a Special Education teacher while they take the three courses needed to qualify for a provisional endorsement. A provisional endorsement will then allow you to work for up to four years while completing the entire program. For information on Waivers, https://sites.google.com/mail.fhsu.edu/special-education-programs/overview/waiver
If not already licensed as a teacher, but you hold a bachelor’s degree and have para experience, the Limited Residency License (LRL) program may be the ideal route. To enter the program, candidates must be hired by a school district as the teacher of record in a Special Education classroom in Kansas. You can earn the full license and a MS degree by completing 36 graduate credit hours. This is available 100% online. There are very specific requirements for this program. https://www.fhsu.edu/aep/high-incidence-special-education/
If working toward elementary education licensure, FHSU does offer a minor in Special Education (K-6) at the undergraduate level that can be completed concurrently with licensure in Elementary Education. Click here for more information.
There are two options to become licensed as a School Counselor for someone who is not licensed as a teacher.
Parallel Pathways Program
Candidates must complete the traditional MS in School Counseling in addition to two 3-credit hour courses. They may then apply for an Initial School Specialist License.
If the candidate is hired as a School Counselor before completion of the entire program, they can apply for a Provisional School Counselor license. To be eligible, they must:
- - Be hired as a school counselor in Kansas
- - Have completed 50% of the school counselor program
- - Have completed 50% of the additional field experiences required (either ALTC 804 or ALTC 805).
- - Be supervised by a professional level school counselor.
The provisional license is valid for two years and may be renewed for an additional two years. Click here for more information.
Restricted License Program
This program requires the candidate to have a MS degree in Counseling, five years of professional counseling experience and be hired as a School Counselor in Kansas. They will complete additional counseling classes relevant to a school setting and education classes while holding a Restricted School Specialist License. The previous coursework in their Master’s degree will be analyzed to determine what additional counseling courses will be required. It is typically 12-18 credit hours. The program must be completed within a three year timeframe. Contact Kerry Schuckman for more information, kschuckm@fhsu.edu.