Educational Leadership (MED)

The Department of Organization and School Leadership offers a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership. All students pursuing the M.Ed. degree must meet UTRGV, College of Education & P16 Integration, and department graduate admission requirements, successfully pass all course requirements, and pass a comprehensive written examination at the end of the program.

The department provides a comprehensive and challenging graduate program for a Master of Education degree. The program prepares students for careers in school leadership positions.

• The department chair along with the Faculty Admissions Committee makes admissions decision.
• Graduate students must adhere to the university admission deadlines.
• Graduate students are admitted every semester in cohorts and move through the program in cohorts.
• Graduate students may take two assigned courses each semester.
• Graduate students must adhere to the Leadership and Fitness Dispositions Policy found in the Student Handbook**
• Students must attend the Student Orientation before beginning the program.
• Graduate students must pass the comprehensive examination.
• Graduate students will be required to purchase software to store key documents, field-based work and assessments.

**Students are expected to conduct themselves in an ethical, responsible, and professional manner. This conduct is evaluated through the Leadership and Fitness Dispositions (LFD) policy as an element of student’s performance in the program. The purpose of the LFD review process is to regularly monitor students’ professional and personal development to ensure students demonstrate appropriate progress towards developing the necessary behaviors, attitudes, and professional competencies to practice school leaders. Students who do not comply with the LFD policy may be removed from the program. Click here to view the full policy.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the graduate program, prospective candidates must first meet all requirements for graduate admission to UT Rio Grande Valley, as well as the other requirements listed below:

1. Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 semester credit hours.
2. GRE General Test. GRE test scores are valid for 5 years. GRE general test with minimum scores of 150 Verbal, 141 Quantitative, and 4.0 Analytical are required for conditional admission.
3. Personal  statement  detailing  professional  goals  and  reasons  for pursuing the graduate degree.
4. Resume including educational background and work experience.

Application for admission must be submitted prior to the published deadline. The application is available at www.utrgv.edu/gradapply.

Program Requirements

Required Courses (30 Credits)

EDUL 6300	Data Management for School Improvement	3
EDUL 6305	Socio-Cultural Contexts of Education	3
EDUL 6310	Organizational Leadership	3
EDUL 6318	Ethics, Equity and Diversity	3
EDUL 6320	Curriculum Leadership for School Improvement	3
EDUL 6325	Instructional Leadership	3
EDUL 6330	Instructional Leadership for Diverse Learners	3
EDUL 6335	Instructional Leadership and Supervision	3
EDUL 6350	The Principalship	3
EDUL 6355	Administration of Human Resources and Budgeting	3

Capstone Requirement

Portfolio B Interview Assessment

Total Credit Hours: 30

Courses may require field-based hours which will be completed outside of class time.

Summer Semesters

The department will offer a full complement of day and night courses during the summer terms. Please check with the department office for summer class hours.

Transfer Hours

A maximum of nine (9) semester hours of relevant coursework may be transferred to the master’s degree and applied to the degree plan if approved by the department chair. No course lower than a B may be transferred.

Changes to the Degree Plan

Any deviations from the degree plan must be approved by the program coordinator. Students must complete a Petition to Change Degree Plan form and give it to the program coordinator for processing. The degree plan change is NOT approved until the petition has been signed by the program coordinator, the department chair and the Dean of the College of Education & P16 Integration. Once the change is approved, the form will be sent to the Office of the Registrar.

Comprehensive Exam

During the last semester of coursework, students must apply to take the comprehensive examination with the department secretary. All students must complete and pass a Comprehensive Exam in order to fulfill degree requirements for graduation. If students fail an item on the comprehensive examination, they must retake that part of the exam. Should they fail the item a second time, they will need to retake the course related to the item.