Degree Requirements Overview
The requirements for the Master of Science in Teacher Education are as follows:

Number of Courses

There are 15 courses required to complete the MSEd degree.  All 15 courses must be taken as an admitted student in the MSEd program.  Any required courses for teacher certification, not already met by undergraduate or previous college studies, must also be taken at Northwestern University.

We now offer an online tool that lets you Build Your Own Program based on your starting quarter, degree type, part-time vs. full-time status and what you choose to do during the summer. By using this tool you can see exactly which courses you would take when, start-to-finish, to complete your degree requirements.

The educational community within the School of Education and Social Policy believes that professional practice must be guided by inquiry and reflection so as to yield understanding and action that promote positive educational change. We believe that committed educators should value and incorporate systematic inquiry and reflection into their practice using these skills to help them act as agents of change within their professional community. Within the MSEd program, therefore, we believe that it is important to prepare candidates to engage in educational research with the idea that they will, as professionals, be practitioner researchers and educational leaders. Reflection and inquiry are embedded throughout the program but are perhaps most evident in the Master's Project.

State certification is mandatory in all public school settings. Students in elementary and secondary concentrations must pursue state certification in addition to the degree. Applicants must take take and pass the Illinois Basic Skills Test before being formally admitted to the MSEd program as a matriculated (degree-seeking) student, although they may be provisionally admitted prior to passing the exam. However, note that an application that does not include either a passing score report or a verification of registration for the Basic Skills Test will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed by our admissions committee. The latest possible date you may take the Basic Skills Test is during the first September during which you plan to be enrolled as a student at Northwestern.

There are three categories of requirements for teacher certification in the state of Illinois: general education requirements; teaching subject requirements; and public education requirements (which include fieldwork). The MSEd coursework is designed to meet this last category of requirements.