KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — South College is accepting applications for its new Educational Specialist program. After an educator earns a master's degree, this degree offers an alternative path to earning a doctorate.
Michael Patrick, the president of Competency-Based Education at South College, said the Education Specialist program is designed to help teachers who already earned a master's degree, but want a higher-level degree after getting experience in their careers. He also said they could complete the program in a year.
The Educational Specialist degree, or EdS, is offered at South College through its Competency-Based Education program. Through this program, students will do a six-month subscription model for school instead of terms. Students are given three years maximum to complete this degree program.
"They're working professionals, right? You've got moms and dads and running carpools and the kids all day long and sometimes it's hard to meet certain demands. And so with our model, we don't have due dates. So if it's not a good day for you, you don't have to submit an assignment that day," said Patrick.
He also said the program could save students money if they complete the degree quickly. He said students can take as many courses as they need in the program's three-year timeframe. He said it costs a set fee for a term, instead of a traditional program that costs per credit hour.
Once students complete the degree, they have many options in front of them.
"A lot of people might wanna go into school administration, they might wanna go to, maybe a district leader," he said. "Some districts offer pay raises for an EdS. And so maybe they're just looking for an additional pay raise to supplement their income. And so I think it really depends on that student and their career goals."
In order to qualify for the program, students must apply to South College and to the program. They also have to have evidence of their completion of a master's degree from an accredited institution of higher education and a minimum 2.75-grade point average on a 4.00 scale.
Ryan Sutton, the communications coordinator for Anderson County Schools, said it is experiencing a teacher shortage like other school districts across the state. He said universities are not graduating the same number of educators as they used to. He also said there are more career paths educators can take now, compared to 20 years ago.
"We do have a large number of folks that are retiring right now, and with the larger number of folks retiring, we just don't have the number of new teachers to fill those positions so it leaves those gaps," said Sutton.
He said this degree program could help get more teachers in the classroom.