Working on Two Degrees

[TonyB79]

I've been thinking of going for my MFA in Creative Writing, as well as a Master's in Education. Hoping that, between the teaching component (as well as lit and elective courses) in the first degree, I will be able to reduce the amount of credits needed for the second. Has anyone worked with trying to "dovetail" requirements for two degree programs like this? If so, what's the process like? How should I go about trying to look into it? Any insights would be appreciated.

[TheCrow]

I think you're going to have to look closely at schools' policies on the award of multiple master's degrees. From just the poking around I've done, it looks like few schools will allow you to use credit from a previous degree to complete a second one (so you want to look at somewhere that will allow you to pursue both simultaneously). For instance: http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-25-02

[TonyB]

Thanks for the link! NC State is actually one of the schools I've looked at in the past; I know that Rosemont in Philadelphia offers an MFA in Writing and MA in Publishing that can be pursued simultaneously, as well. Only having to take an additional 18 credits is actually more generous than I was expecting.

[TheCrow]

Only having to take an additional 18 credits is actually more generous than I was expecting.

 

Of course, that depends on how much overlap there actually is. Looks like 6 hours from the education side (http://ced.ncsu.edu/academics/departments/cice/new-literacies-and-global-learning/masters/nlgl-secondary-english).

 

It looks like it's also possible to apply to the MFA and the MEd at the same time:

 

http://ncstategraduateschool.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1227/kw/multiple/session/L3RpbWUvMTM4MjQ4Njc0MC9zaWQvQ3E0U2p0RGw%3D

[annieca]

At Maryland (and a few other schools) they specifically have dual-degree programs. They're super popular in the Library Science field because of the need for specialized knowledge - MS in some science-y thing, JD, etc. and a Library science degree. For my program (History and Library Science) that means I get out of 6 credits and they lessen both requirements. Normally a master's is 30 credits. Instead, I have to take 54 (24 in History, 24 in Library Science and 6 in either). 

 

I would talk with the department secretaries - they are the gods of the departments and they can usually help you out.

[juilletmercredi]

Many schools do not allow you to apply credits you earned elsewhere towards another degree towards a degree at their school/program.  So I would check that out first.

 

Also, the teaching component in the MFA is likely to be informal - while you may get credit for teaching assistantships, you probably won't be able to apply that against pedagogy classes elsewhere.

[TonyB]

Yeah - I've heard that education programs usually have you take classes in one or two emphasis areas (say English and Social Studies), so I was hoping my lit/writing courses might count toward part of that requirement, and maybe I could take some education courses or something as electives as well. I was planning on trying to pursue both degrees at the same school, if possible. As for teaching - it was my impression that education programs required X number of teaching hours, and that my hours in the college classroom might be taken to apply toward a small portion of that. Knew that was a long shot, though.

 

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

[Etern]

You might just need to apply for two master programs in two different unis and then do the full workload for both degrees. That's what I did and it worked. Need to make sure though that the classes you pick do not overlap and that the unis are close to each other.