Special Education Major

The special education program prepares you to teach and advocate for students with disabilities and to earn Maryland licensure in either elementary/middle or secondary/adult education. Grounded in the standards of the Council for Exceptional Children, the program emphasizes specially designed instruction, literacy rooted in the science of reading, and clinical field experience that connects what you learn to real classrooms.

Program Curriculum

• Choose a licensure pathway in elementary/middle or secondary/adult special education
• Courses in assessment, behavior management, collaboration, curriculum and instruction, and literacy
• Clinical field experience throughout the program, from your first semester to your last
• Six free electives to pursue an interest or interdisciplinary coursework, such as speech-language-hearing sciences or psychology

Beyond the Classroom

• In a school setting, roughly three to four hours per week during your early field experience
• Year-long internship during your senior year
• Placements in Baltimore area partner schools
• Mentoring from experienced teachers and supervision from Loyola clinical faculty