The M.S.E.D. in Workforce Education and Development is designed to accommodate a broad range of individuals preparing for training, instructional, and administrative roles in career and technical education, human resources, business, industry, government, and other fields.

For students with a background in training or education, the major consists of a minimum of 32 credit hours of course work for the thesis option and 36 credit hours for the non-thesis option. For students with backgrounds in fields other than education, two foundation courses (WED 486 and WED 466) are required. These two courses are not counted as part of the required credit hours for the thesis or non-thesis program. A grade of B or higher is required for each course. Program requirements are organized into professional core requirements and specialty area courses. A grade of B or higher is required for each professional core course, and a 3.0 GPA is required for the specialty area courses. At least 50% of the courses taken to complete the M.S.E.D. program must be 500-level.

Professional Core Requirements

For the thesis option, the core consists of four courses (14 credit hours): WED 560, WED 561, WED 566, and WED 593.

Specialty Area Courses

The component consists of 18 credit hours (thesis option) or 24 credit hours (non-thesis option) of course work relevant to a student's career goals. Technical courses, professional courses, and internships may be included. Courses may be taken within the program or in other units of the school or University.

Thesis

In accordance with Graduate School requirements, students in the thesis option must complete a thesis (WED 599) showing evidence of the student's knowledge of research techniques. Upon completion of the thesis, a final oral examination of the research is conducted by the student's advisory committee.

The program of study is individually tailored based upon the student's background, interests, and career goals. Program graduates are employed in career and technical education at the secondary and postsecondary levels and in training positions in such fields as aviation management, business, automotive technology, family and consumer science, industrial management and applied engineering, agricultural education, and career development. In business environments, graduates work in employee/industrial/management training, health care administration, and human resource environments. Graduates also work in various levels of government in such fields as education, military service, and personnel training.