Education Degree Programs at Brandeis University
Brandeis University appears in our ranking of the Top 20 Online Master’s in Instructional Design.
Brandeis University makes it easy for students to complete the requirements to get a Massachusetts license and for working teachers to continue their studies to maintain their licenses. The university offers a Bachelor of Arts in Education Studies that features a curriculum designed for those who want to become teachers. Students will take electives and some general education classes and also take required education courses. They must take electives from one of four key subject areas, including human creativity and development and teaching and learning inside and outside of schools. The program gives students the option of doing a thesis and spending at least a semester abroad. Volunteer opportunities are available for students too in the form of tutoring and working in a campus learning center.
The university’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program gives students the chance to do independent research projects on an important educational topic. They will pick a concentration in elementary education, secondary education or teaching in a Jewish day school. All concentrations include a year-long internship that allows students to work in a local school. This is also available as a combined BA/BS-MAT program. During their junior years, students will make the transition into the graduate program. They can finish the requirements of both programs in a full five years.
A Master of Education in Teacher Leadership is also available. Students spend two years taking online classes and two years during coaching in the real world. They will also do two residency sessions, which require that they spend three weeks on the Brandeis campus at a time. Each session takes place in the summer. Students who want to further their education without enrolling in a degree program can instead complete the university’s advanced teacher leadership program. It requires two residencies but only one year of online classes and one year of coaching. All of the Brandeis education programs include financial aid opportunities for prospective and returning students.
About Brandeis University
Brandeis University is a private university in the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. Established in 1848, the university took over the campus used by the former Middlesex University. This university had a reputation because it was one of the few medical schools in the country at the time that admitted Jewish students. The new university received donations from several prominent Jewish citizens and used those funds to purchase the old campus and renovate it for incoming students. Thanks to later donations, the university constructed new buildings for its students and developed a strong curriculum that includes dozens of degree programs.
Princeton Review ranked the university at number one on a list of American colleges that offer volunteer opportunities for students. It also ranks as a selective university, according to U.S. News and World Report, which ranked Brandeis as the nation’s 35th best university and within the top 280 of campuses in the world. The education programs offered by Brandeis University also rank within the top 10 of all American education programs.
Brandeis University Accreditation Details
Brandeis has accreditation that applies to its education programs and to the university as a whole. Its institutional accreditation, which allows Brandeis to award financial aid packages and accept transfer credits, comes from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). This accreditation applies to the fieldwork that education majors do as they complete student teaching requirements. Brandeis also has accreditation for all of its business programs.
Brandeis University Application Requirements
Brandeis has two early decision deadlines for undergrads: November first and January first. It will notify those students by the middle of December or the beginning of February of its decision. Students who submit their required documents after the second deadline may not get a response until the beginning of April. Brandeis asks that students use the Common Application and submit a GED certificate or high school transcripts and an ACT/SAT score. It requires a mid-year report, a letter of recommendation written by a teacher and a school report along with a letter of recommendation from an official who works for the student’s high school. There is also an $80 application fee, though the university will waive this fee in some cases.
Graduate students applying to a Brandeis education program who meet the early decision deadline of December first do not need to pay the application fee. Those who submit their applications later must pay a $75 application fee. Though the university has a soft deadline in the middle of March, it may accept applications submitted later if the chosen program still has available spots. In most cases, the university will hold the student’s application until the fall. Students must write a statement of purpose and submit that statement along with a GRE or GMAT score, their transcripts, a resume, two letters of recommendation and a valid Massachusetts teaching license. Some programs allow students to apply if they do not have a teaching license. They may need to interview with a faculty member from the education department too.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The undergraduate cost of attendance at Brandeis University is $73,076 per year. This includes $55,340 in tuition and more than $1,800 in fees. The remaining costs include a room and board package, which gives students 12 meals each week and 850 points that they can use in university cafeterias. Graduate students pay $51,780 per year for tuition and fees. This includes a $1,179 per credit hour cost and associated fees of up to $250 for each class that they take. Those fees can vary and drop to just $25 per class. Some education courses do not include any additional fees.
To get financial aid, students must use the FAFSA and file it when they apply to the university, making sure that they use the Brandeis code. Every undergrad who applies with automatically receive consideration for some of the university’s scholarships. Those scholarships can cover study abroad programs too. Undergrads can also get grants and loans or access to the federal work study program. Graduate students can qualify for six different institutional scholarships and for a program that forgives their student loans. They can also get waivers that cover some of their fees and/or fellowships and assistantships. Brandeis University designs financial aid packages to meet the exact needs of all students enrolled in its education programs.
