Special Education Programs are part of the Advanced Education Programs Department and the Teacher Education Department in the College of Education at Fort Hays State University.
We offer online graduate programs for working toward adding an endorsement to become a special educator in High Incidence , Low Incidence, and/or Gifted. Through these programs, you can also work to earn a Master of Science in Special Education along with the endorsement. To add the endorsement in order to teach special education in the state of Kansas, you must already have an initial teaching license.
We offer an online undergraduate bachelor's degree program to become a special educator in High Incidence and Low Incidence.
We also offer additional pathways for becoming a special educator, the Limited Residency Licensure - High Incidence and the Limited Residency Licensure - Low Incidence programs which are initial licensure programs available only in Kansas. Candidates interested in either of these programs must be selected by the school district in to be the special education teacher of record. Candidates interested in the low incidence program must have a minimum of one year experience as a paraprofessional.
Each of our programs is designed to teach through practical application and align with the program licensure standards through the state of Kansas. As such, you will be required to observe in special education settings across grade levels (pre-K through 12th grade) and engage in case study applications of what you will be learning in courses with students with exceptionalities (high incidence or gifted, depending on your program of study).