MASTER OF EDUCATION DEGREE

The Master of Education degree at East Central University offers educators and other professionals, in-depth study in several specialization areas. Candidates can choose a new program that prepares them for a job in an education-related field such as Educational Leadership, Educational Technology, Secondary Education - Academic Discipline, Special Education, or Sports Administration. Candidates can choose a Post Masters Certification in School Superintendent. Each program offers courses based on best practices in the field and is designed to provide a research foundation from which candidates make informed decisions. Candidates graduate from these programs as professional, reflective, innovative leaders. The Master of Education degree programs that lead to new certification areas is accredited by the State of Oklahoma and by the Specialty Program Associations affiliated with The Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP). Each specialty program is designed to teach specific program standards that are addressed throughout the program of study. In addition to the specific program standards, all advanced degrees leading to certification are aligned with the following CAEP standards:

East Central University was one of three normal schools established in eastern Oklahoma in 1909. Three similar institutions had been established earlier in the western half of the new state and each provided preparatory education including two years of college leading to teacher certification.

Ada's selection as the college's location followed intensive lobbying efforts by the 25,000 Club, a local booster club which also raised funds for faculty salaries so classes could begin that fall in local churches and public school classrooms. The 1910 legislature appropriated funds for faculty salaries and construction of a building which was completed later that year on a 16-acre site donated by Dan Hays, a Chickasaw allottee.

In 1919, the six normal schools became teachers' colleges and began to confer bachelor's degrees. In 1939, they added degree programs in Arts and Sciences and were designated as state colleges. In 1954, the six colleges were authorized to offer their first graduate work in a fifth-year program for teachers. Other master's degrees have since been added. In 1974, East Central became East Central Oklahoma State University. The name was changed to East Central University in 1985.