TEACHING EXCELLENCE
ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE

Customize curriculum to your professional goals while you improve your teaching practice and advance your career with a master’s in teaching degree at Mercyhurst University.

Tailored to your passions, our completely online master’s degree meets your — or your district’s — interests while fulfilling ACT 48 requirements. Designed for K-12 educators, you can enhance your skills as a master educator and gain practical experience.

Core courses focus on evidence-based pedagogy, professional development, and educational scholarship to prepare you for success in the classroom and your career. You’ll earn a master of teaching degree that can improve your teaching practice — and boost your salary.

This flexible master of science in teaching provides you a personalized path to PDE endorsements, the PDE ELL specialist certificate, or PDE Principal Certification. If you want one of the fastest and most flexible programs in the region, look to Mercyhurst.

Improve Your Teaching Practice

Increase Your Salary

Finish in 15 Months

Why a teaching master’s degree from Mercyhurst?

Are you driven to enhance your teaching practice through a practical-based master’s program? Do you want to grow professionally and increase your salary? If so, the Mercyhurst master of teaching degree is for you.

Earn a master’s degree in teaching and principal certification.

Our online teaching master’s degree program is a 30-credit degree for certified teachers in grades K-12. It provides a fast and customizable path to a master’s degree. The transfer-credit friendly program offers an expedited timeline so you can finish in just 15 months. In addition, you may elect to include the six courses required for the Principal Leadership Certificate.

Take coursework that fits your schedule.

We offer full 16-week courses and mini 6- to 8-week courses so you can adjust your course load to fit your life. Our rolling admission lets you start your master’s in teaching program when it’s best for you. Start in May, take your heaviest course load in the summer, then finish the following May.

Maintain balance while you earn your master of teaching degree.

Our personalized program lets you work independently yet feel supported. You won’t have to choose between the work you love and earning your master of science in teaching. Plus, you won’t have to take classes that don’t fit your goals. You will take only the courses that make you a better educator or principal.

Get reimbursed for your teaching master’s degree!

Whether you’re a novice or experienced teacher, you’ll see a solid return on investment from a master of teaching degree or principal certification. Our tuition is competitively priced to match most school districts’ reimbursement policies. Best of all, it positions you for continued professional growth and future salary increases.

We welcome and support veterans.

Providing a supportive and engaging experience for veterans, service members, and their dependents earned Mercyhurst the designation of being a Purple Heart University. The honor recognizes our efforts to provide services to veterans and their families. The Purple Heart Scholarship is awarded to a veteran who was wounded in combat and is enrolled in online teaching master’s degree programs.

What can you do with a Mercyhurst master’s degree?

Our master’s in teaching degree programs let you fulfill Act 48, continuing education or professional education requirements, prepare for leadership roles, and increase your salary. You can receive PDE endorsements and enrich students’ lives through Teaching Leadership, Instructional Coaching, Online Design, as an ELL Program Specialist, or by earning your Autism Endorsement.

Mercyhurst Master of Teaching graduates earn titles of:

Mercyhurst Teaching Excellence graduates earn titles of:

Certified Teacher
Counselor
Department Chair
Instructional Coach
Principal
Superintendent

Career outlook with a Master of Science in Teaching degree.

The teaching master’s degree provides numerous options for professional growth and career enhancement. As a graduate, you’ll enhance your CV, build your skills as a master educator, and increase your salary potential. You can also advance into principal leadership.

Course Requirements

The master’s in Teaching Excellence is a 30-credit (minimum) program. All students complete a set of five core courses, which focus on the theoretical underpinnings of education, innovative pedagogy to meet the demands of diverse learners, and analysis and conduction of educational research:

EDSE 500 Foundation of Pedagogy & Practice
EDSE 610 21st Century Literacies
EDU 670 Internship
EDSP 502 Educational Research
EDSE 676 Thesis

The remaining five courses for the master’s (15 credits minimum) can be fulfilled through:

PLS Coursework (Online or On-Site)

Through PLS, Mercyhurst offers instruction in integrated educational theory, research-based best practices and meaningful applications, providing measurable, transformational results for educators and the students. Courses are available online or on-site at convenient locations throughout the region, and each course offers three credit hours at the graduate level. Course instructors are experienced classroom teachers and provide real-life applications for your classroom.

In addition, PLS now offers micro-credentials in instructional coaching, blended and online teaching, new teacher induction, 21st century learning, teaching and assessment, and teacher leadership. This means while you’re working toward your master’s, you can obtain a PDE endorsement and a PLS micro-credential at the same time.

Explore PLS Courses

PDE Endorsements

Pursue any of the following endorsements from the Pennsylvania Department of Education; courses you complete for these endorsements can count toward your master’s.

Instructional Coaching Endorsement (9 credits)
Online Design Endorsement (12 credits)
ELL Program Specialist Certificate (18 credits)
Autism Endorsement (12 credits)
Teaching Leadership (12 credits)

Teaching Experience

If you’ve been teaching for more than a year, you can earn up to six credits for your experience (based on a portfolio review by our graduate faculty).

Transfer Credits

Have you already earned some graduate-level credits in education from another institution? Up to nine credits earned elsewhere should count toward equivalent coursework at Mercyhurst.

Graduate Electives

Mercyhurst electives for the master’s in Teaching Excellence include:

EDU 501 Classroom Management
EDU 502 Differentiated Instruction
EDU 503 Cultural Competence
EDU 504 Educating Net-Generation
EDU 505 Professional Learner Teacher Effectiveness
EDU 506 Blended & Synchronous Learning Design
EDU 507 Building Online Collaborative Environment
EDU 508 Facilitating Online Learning Communities
EDU 509 Foundations of Literacy Beginning Reading
EDU 510 Instructional Coaching
EDU 511 Instructional Design for Online Educators
EDU 512 Purposeful Learning Through Multiple Intelligences
EDU 513 Reading Across the Curriculum
EDSP 501 Behavior Management
EDSP 504 Behavior Management Clinical
EDSP 521 Psychology of Diverse Learners
EDSP 522 Inclusive Practices
EDSP 535 Assessment and Data-Driven Decision Making
EDSP 536 Professional, Legal and Ethical Practices
EDSP 540 Introduction to Autism and Clinical
EDSP 541 Autism: Instructional Assessment and Methods
EDSP 650 Functional Behavior Assessment and Intervention Development
WL 501 Cultural & Linguistic Diversity Learner
WL 512 Second Language Acquisition
WL 514 Introduction to Sociolinguistics
ELL 500 Teaching English as a Second Language
ELL 505 Professionalism and Program Development for ELLs
ELL 515 Supporting Literacy for English Language Learners
OL 500 Leadership Theory and Practice
OL 502 Leadership and Organizational Behavior
OL 505 Organizational Ethics
OL 530 Organizational Communication for Leaders

Admissions Requirements

To apply for the master’s in Teaching Excellence, please provide the following:

A completed (free) online application
All official transcripts from accredited higher education institutions
A personal statement of 300-500 words outlining the student’s personal, professional and educational goals
A resume or curriculum vitae
One recommendation from a supervisor, teaching colleague, or college faculty member (requested electronically via a widget in the application)

Get started on your master of teaching degree!

Enhance your teaching practice with the Mercyhurst master’s degree in teaching.

Apply Today

Submit your online application today for the online teaching master’s degree programs at Mercyhurst University.

Explore Financial Aid

Earn an affordable graduate teaching degree with competitive per-credit costs. To learn more, visit our Graduate Cost and Financial Aid webpage or contact us at grad@mercyhurst.edu or 814-824-3351.