Dec 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Academic Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Academic Catalog

Educational Studies, BA


School Education
Academic Award Bachelor of Arts
Credits Required 122 semester credits
Faculty Lead Suzan Kobashigawa
CIP Code 13.0101

Degree Requirements


The major Educational Studies prepares students for professional careers in education related fields.  Aspiring educators study the liberal arts, Bible and theology, educational founda­tions, learning theory, human psychology, intercultural communications, assessment, and instructional design. During an internship, students practice and demonstrate their skills in settings conducive to their degree and career path (e.g. businesses and non-profit organizations).

Educational Studies & Community Programming for Children & Youth

This concentration prepares students to work in youth educational settings outside of P-12 education.  Career options include working in youth ministries; community organizations like Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA; missions; and community centers.

Educational Studies & International Education

Students in this concentration likely are preparing to teach English in various settings (e.g. mission field, international schools, overseas, or in the refugee and immigrant communities).  Other careers supported by this degree include advocacy work, community development, and adult education.  Completion of this concentration can lead to an Advanced TESOL certificate as well.

5-year Master’s Degree Options

Students majoring in Educational Studies may also qualify for one of several fifth-year Master’s degrees offered by NU: Five-Year or an Accelerated Bachelor’s and Master’s Program  .

Professional Standards and Performance Assessment

The performance of each candidate is evaluated in multiple ways over time.  Assessment of candidate performance focuses on demon­strated competency in both knowledge and teaching skill, which employs varied strategies to measure professional knowledge, subject matter mastery, and teaching effectiveness.  Measures include written examination, oral communication, curricular and instructional design, internship, projects and portfolios, written expression, visual and musical arts, and the success of children in field settings.

Graduates with a degree in Educational Studies will be able to: 

  1. Identify the influences of cultural background and situation for each learner.
  2. Identify the different ways in which people acquire, demonstrate, and reinforce content knowledge and procedures.
  3. Identify a variety of instructional tools through which to monitor and promote positive impact on learning.
  4. Demonstrate how theory and context influence practice.

Core Curriculum Requirements: 57


Humanities: 9


6 credits in this area must be from Writing Practice courses* (see Course Descriptions    for applicability)

  • ENGL xxx3 Any Literature course 3 credits
  • HIST   xxx3 Any Course in History 3 credits
  • 3 additional credits selected from the following 3 credits
    • Art (ARTE), Bible (BIBL), Drama (DRAM), English (ENGL), History (HIST), Language (LANG), Music (MUSI), or Theology (THEO)

Social Sciences: 9


6 credits in this area must be from Writing Practice courses* (see Course Descriptions  for applicability)

  • Select a minimum of two disciplines from the following: 9 credits
    • Business Administration (BUSM), Communication (except COMM 1213), Economics, Education (EDUC), Exercise Science (EXSC), Geography (GEOG), Information Technology (INTC), Management (BMGT), Marketing (BMKT), Philosophy (PHIL), Political Science (PSCI), Psychology (PSYC), Sociology/Anthropology (SOCI), or User Experience Design (UXDE)

Science and Mathematics: 7


  • MATH xxxx - College-level Mathematics 3 credits
  • SCIE xxxx - Science course with Lab 4 credits

Formation and Calling: 3


Professional Readiness: 2


Two Core Curriculum elective credits are required to be Career Readiness credits. These credits can be earned by taking a combination of Career Readiness Courses and introductory internship and/or job shadowing experiences. 

  • This two-credit requirement is waived for students who transfer 57 or more credits to NU
  • Students with 44-56 transfer credits are required to take one Career Readiness credit

Core Electives: 6


Select any college-level courses

Major Requirements: 48


Concentrations: 30


Select one concentration:

  • Community Programming
  • Elementary Education
  • International Education

General Electives: 17


Any college-level courses

Total: 122 Semester Credits