![CPS AP Class older male student and female student talking](/sites/default/files/styles/pagehero_sm/public/media/images/2022-09/CPS%20AP%20Class%20older%20student.jpg?h=52d6685a&itok=2JHkQndR)
In Short
A field of study planned and approved under the direction of a faculty member from both of your chosen disciplines.
- Submit an approved plan of study
- Explore an integrated core curriculum and a capstone experience
Already have a master's degree? Earn your Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in as little as two years. Learn more today.
Degree Overview
Students choose from two capstone options: thesis or action research project.
Program Highlights
- NECHE accredited
- Program leads to: professional contacts statewide, a capstone project relevant to career goals, career and salary advances
Career Opportunities
The individualized Ed.S. program is a post-Master's academic certificate designed for candidates seeking to enhance their professional and or personal knowledge and skills. Courses taken may lead to licensure, specialization in a particular field, or re-specialization in a new field.
Total Credits
36 credits
Time Frame
While you can complete the program in as few as three years, you have six years to complete the program.
The flexibility of the course work fit perfectly into my full-time teaching schedule. Not only did my students learn and grow but so did I as an art teacher.
Degrees and Other Information
The Ed.S. degree is equivalent to a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAGS) degree.
- Ed.S. Interdisciplinary Studies: Individualized Concentration - Program information from the University Catalog.
- Two-Year Course Rotation (PDF)
The Ed.S. IDIS Individualized Concentration welcomes students with diverse academic interests to explore the possibilities of bridging disciplines, widening perspectives, discovering connections and merging knowledge. The program allows students to gain depth of knowledge in fields most relevant to their professional interests. The core requirements provide a solid foundation in interdisciplinary scholarship, and challenge students to engage in meaningful independent research in the culminating capstone project.
The coursework in the two disciplinary areas selected allow students to gain depth of knowledge in fields most relevant to their professional interests.
- Developing interdisciplinary habits of mind (IDIS 8000).
- Developing the ability to apply and integrate methods, materials, and/or insights from different disciplines to the solution of a problem, the analysis of an issue, and ultimately the completion of an interdisciplinary capstone thesis or project informed by their previous work in different disciplines
- Developing research skills specific to interdisciplinary project design.
- The sequence of culminating courses, IDIS 9000 and 9004/5, foster an understanding of how a range of disciplinary lenses can be brought to bear on a problem or issue, and how the research methods from different disciplines can be deployed in meaningful ways to address a range of issues facing our world.
Completed applications are reviewed on a rolling admission basis. Admission requirements are as follows:
- Official transcript of a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
- Three letters of recommendation
- Professional resume
- Graduate application and fee
Still have questions? We're here to help!
We know you're busy, so we've given you a few different options to conveniently get the answers you need. You can…
- Email an enrollment counselor gce@fitchburgstate.edu or call 978.665.3182
- Attend an information session
- Watch a webinar