Adolescent Special Education Generalist

Program Overview

This master’s degree program is designed to prepare you to become a Special Education teacher to middle school and high school students with diverse backgrounds, learning styles and interests. Rather than focus on a specific subject area, graduates of this program are generalists. Special Education Generalists work in a variety of school settings including collaborative co-taught classrooms, small group intervention classes, and in administrative capacities as advocates for students with special needs.

Coursework and Clinical Experiences

Courses are offered in the afternoon and evening. Some courses may be available in an online or hybrid format. Select courses have required hours of classroom experience (fieldwork) in a New York City public school. Students also participate in supervised teaching (student teaching and/or practicum) as the culmination of their course of study. Student teaching and/or practicum requires five full days per week for at least one semester.

Credits

36 to 48

Certification

Students with Disabilities Grades 7 to 12

Program Format

On Campus: A self-paced course of study that can be completed full-time or part-time. Students begin in the Fall or Spring semesters.

Online Cohort format: Beginning each July, students can follow a full-time all-online pathway to completion over 20 months. In the first year, all classes are asynchronous. In the second year, only one class (student teaching/practicum – SPED 775) – in the last semester is synchronous.

Eligibility and Admission Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a GPA of at least 3.0 or a master’s degree with a GPA of at least 3.5.
• A liberal arts or sciences major or interdisciplinary concentration of at least 30 credits
• A general education core in the liberal arts and sciences including coursework in artistic expression; communication; information retrieval; concepts in history and social sciences; humanities; a world language other than English; scientific and mathematical processes; and written analysis and expression.
• A minimum of 24 liberal arts and sciences credits as follows: 6 credits English, 6 credits in historical and social sciences, 6 credits in science, 6 credits in math
• A statement of purpose – please indicate your interest in the all-online format or the on-campus/hybrid format.
• Two letters of recommendation
• An official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score report (Waived for Spring 2025 and Fall 2025 applicants)

To Apply

The on-site program accepts applications for each Fall and Spring semester.

The all-online cohort accepts applications for each Fall semester, only and begins coursework each July.

To start your application, visit the Hunter College Online Application.

When applying to this program, under Program of Study, select School of Education – Special Education and Adolescent Special Education Generalist (Grades 7-12).

Application Deadlines

Fall Start

• March 15 (Priority Deadline)
• April 15 (Extended Deadline)

Spring Start

• October 15 (Priority Deadline)
• November 1 (Extended Deadline)

Note that the Online cohort does not accept spring applications.

Visit How to Apply for information about deadline extensions.

Related Programs

If you have a master’s degree and hold New York State teacher certification in Childhood Special Education or Adolescent Education, you may be eligible for the Specialized Additional Teaching Certificate Program in Adolescent Special Education.

Contact an Admissions Advisor

edadmissions@hunter.cuny.edu

Program Leader

Gina Riley