This master's degree in elementary education will prepare you to lead your classroom and make a difference for students.
Are you ready to follow your passion for education and pursue a meaningful career as a teacher? An elementary education degree can help you impact on all kinds of students, changing their lives, and fueling their dreams. If you already hold a bachelor's degree in a non-teaching field, this master's in elementary education can help you change careers, pursue your passion for education, and start making a difference for diverse students and communities. This elementary education master's degree will help you learn the content knowledge and teaching skills you need to run your own classroom, giving you the ability to connect with every kind of learner, increasing their understanding and growth. This master's degree prepares students for teaching certification in all 50 states, so you can become a teacher wherever you live. Learn more about teacher licensure in your state .
Students will take eight professional core courses that will prepare them to handle unique educational situations and become better teachers. These courses focus on a variety of important topics including social and emotional learning, and technology and diversity inclusion in the classroom. Plus, students will get to use augmented reality experiences to give them the opportunity to practice their work before entering the classroom. These eight professional core courses are also coupled with preclinical experience to help ensure teachers are ready for their classroom.
67% of graduates finish within
18 months
Put your experience and education to use. WGU lets you move more quickly through material you already know and advance as soon as you're ready. The result: You may finish faster.
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Tuition per 6-month term is
$3,490
Tuition charged per term—rather than per credit—helps students control the ultimate cost of their degrees. Do the math and you'll be thrilled! You can finish faster, and pay less.
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Graduates who would recommend:
97%
The vast majority of alumni say WGU delivered on its promises. In fact, over 50% of students found WGU thanks to a friend's recommendation.
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Follow your passion and move into a career where you can impact students. Earn a Master of Teaching, Elementary Education degree today.
Shape the course of the future for yourself and your students—your goal to become a meaningful teacher is within your reach. Change careers and make a difference one student at a time. Earn your master's in elementary education—a program focused on helping you connect with students, improving their outcomes and understanding. Make a difference for individual students, your classroom, and your entire community.
Curriculum tailored to help you become a great educator.
This teaching degree in elementary education adds theoretical depth and practical experience to your curriculum planning and classroom management skills. WGU’s Master of Arts in Teaching, Elementary Education program is nationally recognized by the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) .
The WGU master’s in teaching degree program was designed with input from the experts on our Education Program Council. These experts know exactly what it takes for a graduate to qualify for a teacher’s license and be successful in a career teaching elementary school students.
WGU Benefits
The online elementary education degree has many benefits, including:
You aren't on your own. WGU has Program Mentors who work with you from the day you start, all the way through graduation. They help you set up your Demonstration Teaching, learn about teaching certification in your state, and more. You're not alone when you choose an online degree at WGU.Teaching licensure in any of the 50 states. WGU's online elementary education degree prepares you for a teaching license in any state in the U.S. Flexible schedule. Students choose WGU for their online degree program because of its flexibility. Whether you already have a full-time job, have responsibilities as a parent, or just have a busy schedule, WGU can work for you.
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Areas of Study
The competencies you gain through this program will span these crucial topical areas:
Foundations of teaching
Mathematics content
Instructional planning and presentation
Elementary education methods
Effective teaching practices
Pre-clinical experiences
Research
Demonstration teaching
Explore the curriculum
A Respected Degree
See why your administrators and peers will respect your WGU degree.
Strong alumni network. When you enroll in an online elementary education degree program at WGU, you join an impressive network of teachers. Over 8,000 students graduated from the Teachers College in 2019 alone, taking their skills and impacting the educational system all around the United States.Impact on every level . When you get an online elementary education degree from WGU, you are prepared to impact students in many ways. From individual pupils, to entire classrooms, to your whole community—you are trained to make a difference.
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A supported, personalized experience.
WGU is different from other online universities—in the best possible ways! Take a quick look at what we mean:
Faculty
Learning
Assessment
In-Classroom Experience
Alumni Support
Faculty
SUPPORTING YOU: Faculty focused on students.
An entire team of faculty members has one goal in mind: your success. Your Program Mentor is your individually assigned faculty member, providing regular program guidance and instruction from the day you start, to the day you graduate. In addition, Course Instructors provide regular, subject-matter instruction and support, typically one-on-one, throughout each course you take.
Learning
YOUR ROADMAP: A personalized learning plan.
Your program is made up of a series of courses, each a personalized journey toward subject mastery. A preassessment provides insight into what you already know. You’ll then learn what you still need to learn, using online learning resources—available 24/7—along with one-on-one or cohort-based faculty instruction.
Assessment
PROVE IT: Show you know your stuff.
WGU measures learning, not time, so each course in your program culminates in an assessment—a test, paper, project, or presentation that allows you to prove what you know. As soon as you’re ready, you take the assessment. Take proctored exams from the comfort of your own home—via webcam, any time of day!
In-Classroom Experience
REAL-WORLD: Experience in a classroom.
Most of your program will be completed online but all teacher licensure programs—and many graduate-level programs for already-licensed teachers—also include the opportunity to observe and practice in a K–12 classroom setting. We’ll help you set everything up at a school near you.
Alumni Support
ALWAYS a Night Owl: WGU for life.
Continued support after you graduate includes many opportunities for professional development and enrichment, career support, and networking. WGU Night Owls may be independent learners, but they also become highly engaged in our active alumni community through apps, groups, and events.
The accreditation you need, plus industry respect and recognition.
One important measure of a degree’s value is the reputation of the university where it was earned. When employers, industry leaders, and academic experts hold your alma mater in high esteem, you reap the benefits of that respect. WGU is a pioneer in reinventing higher education for the 21st century, and our quality has been recognized.
Accredited
The WGU Teachers College is the first competency-based online university to receive accreditation for its degree programs that lead to teacher licensure from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
Additionally, the teacher licensure programs offered through the WGU Teachers College have been awarded full accreditation by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) through June 30, 2026.
Respected
“After graduating from WGU, and through all the rigor and quality of instruction that I received in the educational field, I was awarded Hawaii District Teacher of the Year in 2012.”
Amoreena Nestman
Recognized
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) in 2017 placed WGU’s Teachers College in the top 1% nationwide for the quality of its secondary teacher-preparation programs. This follows several other NCTQ recognitions, including the nation’s #1 best value for teacher education in 2015.
Our programs check all the boxes. If this degree is your goal, get started toward becoming a student today—programs start the first of each month.
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