The College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions offers graduate programs with initial certification in early childhood education (ECE) and elementary education. 

You may be a recent college graduate with an undergraduate degree in another field who is just now considering a career in teaching. You may have worked for years in the business world and are looking for a complete career change. Our program can help you achieve your career goals. You do not need to have an undergraduate degree in education to enter our program.

Our Early Childhood Education program provides students with the knowledge and training to pursue a variety of careers in public and private schools, as well as childcare centers and community programs. The program prepares students to teach and care for children in inclusive learning environments from birth to age eight. The program offers rigorous professional preparation through core theory, site-based observations, real-world fieldwork experiences and two student-teaching semesters in area schools. The degree leads to diverse early childhood careers or Connecticut teacher certification with a focus in birth to age five or pre-kindergarten to third grade.

The Elementary program is an initial certification program for those who wish to teach grades 1-6. Courses are offered in the evening for those students who currently work during the day. We prepare you to be a reflective practitioner who understands subject areas, your students and theories of pedagogy, learning and developmental theories, knowledge of curriculum and effective teaching strategies, cultural and diverse needs of students, integration of technology, application of skills in assessment and implementation, and evaluation of effective educational programs.