Program Overview
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Location: McKee 126, Dean's office
Telephone: 970.351.2691
Website: www.unco.edu/cebs/special-education/
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of three parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- University-Wide Credits
Program Description:
The curriculum consists of recommended Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements, courses in professional teacher preparation, courses in special education theory, practice, and pedagogy and courses in Liberal Arts Curriculum content. Strong emphasis is placed on literacy and mathematics in both Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements and content area coursework. The program is organized around nine themes including individual differences (disabilities, culture, and language), interpersonal/collaborative skills, direct instruction, legal responsibilities/processes, organizational/systemic process behavioral management knowledge and access of resources, inquiry skills, and implementation of special educator roles. Topics emphasized within these themes include typical developmental learning, general assessment concepts, foundational characteristics of disabilities, service delivery models, and technology.
Program Admission Requirements:
Academic Good Standing
Degree Requirements — 120 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
To complete the degree in 120 credits as outlined, the program recommends the below LAC courses that also count toward the 80 required major credits.
Any additional coursework completed outside of the recommended list below may extend the length of the program of study.
Written Communication — 6 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
MATH 181 and MATH 182 are recommended to fulfill Mathematics requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS], and International Studies [IS] — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation. We recommend that your Arts and Humanities courses count for your IS and MS designations.
HIST 100 or HIST 101 is recommended to fulfill History requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
GEOG 100 or GEOG 110 or PSCI 100 or ECON 203 or ECON 205 is recommended to fulfill Social & Behavioral Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
SCI 265 and SCI 266 are recommended to fulfill Natural & Physical Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major — 80 credits
| EDSE 201 | Culture of Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 203 | The Individualized Education Program and the Collaborative Process | 3 |
| EDSE 270 | Field-Based Experience | 3 |
| EDSE 320 | Assessment in Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 321 | Advanced Assessment in Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 322 | K-12 Methods in Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 325 | Behavioral Dimensions of Students with Exceptionalities I | 3 |
| EDSE 326 | Behavioral Dimensions of Students with Exceptionalities II | 3 |
| EDSE 327 | Methods for Teaching Mathematics: Students with Special Needs | 3 |
| EDSE 328 | Field Experience in Special Education: Elementary | 3 |
| EDSE 329 | Field Experience in Special Education: Secondary | 3 |
| EDSE 411 | Assessments to Support the Struggling Reader | 3 |
| EDSE 442 | Language and Literacy for Students with Severe Delays | 3 |
| EDSE 443 | Support Systems in Special Education | 3 |
| EDSE 460 | Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Disabilities | 3 |
| ASLS 266 | Normal Speech and Language Development | 3 |
| ASLS 365 | Language Disorders in Children | 3 |
| EDRD 410 | Achieving Effective Instruction in Developmental Reading | 3 |
| EED 342 | Methods and Materials for Teaching Language and Composition in the Elementary School | 3 |
| MATH 181 | Fundamentals of Mathematics I: Number and OperationsLAX1 | 3 |
| MATH 182 | Fundamental Mathematics II: Algebra, Probability and Data AnalysisLAX1 | 3 |
| MATH 283 | Fundamental Mathematics III: Geometry and Measurement | 3 |
| HIST 100 | Survey of American History from Its Beginnings to 1877LAH1 | 3 |
| | or | |
| HIST 101 | Survey of American History from 1877 to the PresentLAH1 | 3 |
| GEOG 100 | World GeographyLAB2LAIS | 3 |
| | or | |
| GEOG 110 | Geography of the United States and CanadaLAB2 | 3 |
| | or | |
| PSCI 100 | United States National GovernmentLAB1 | 3 |
| | or | |
| ECON 203 | Principles of MacroeconomicsLAB1 | 3 |
| | or | |
| ECON 205 | Principles of MicroeconomicsLAB1 | 3 |
| SCI 265 | Physical Science ConceptsLAS1LASL | 4 |
| SCI 266 | Earth and Life ScienceLAS1LASL | 4 |
| | Application for Initial Admission to PTEP | |
| | Application for Full Admission to PTEP | |
3. University-Wide Credits — 9 Credits*
Complete additional credits to achieve the minimum credits needed for any degree at UNC; for this program, that will typically be 9 credits.
*Note: Students who apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum and the major requirements will have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree. See your advisor for details.