Degree Requirements

Cognate Area Requirement

Beyond the M.A.E. program’s core education courses, students complete 18 credits of coursework in an approved cognate area. The cognate area work is overseen and approved by the cognate faculty committee that is composed of three graduate faculty from the Department of Education and other academic departments.

• If the student is a member of a defined cohort group, the cognate area courses will be established by the M.A.E. program director and the cohort advisors.
• If the student is seeking to complete a degree with a cognate emphasis with courses from other UMBC academic departments (e.g. biology, history, mathematics), an advisor from that discipline will be identified. That advisor will also agree to serve as a reader for the student’s capstone project.
• If the M.A.E. student teaches elementary school or seeks to develop skills that will equip him or her for work that requires inter-disciplinary expertise (e.g., international education, specialist in curriculum integration or literacy), the student will be assigned an advisor whose responsibility will be to make sure that the student creates a coherent program that results in a master’s-level capstone project.
• Students’ cognate area proposals must outline their goals and interests and be approved by the cognate faculty committee by the end of their second semester of enrollment in the program.