Multicategorical Special Education FAQs

Any individual with a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education.

You can view the cost of the program on the Tuition and Fees page.

If you are a licensed teacher, you might not have to take all the program requirements (you will be notified upon admission to SXU's Education Division, following a transcript review). You also will complete a practicum (shorter period of time, offered in the summer) instead of student teaching.

A cohort group is a group of graduate students who take a sequence of courses leading to a degree together. Support and camaraderie grow from the arrangement.

At a school or site designated by Saint Xavier University's Education Division.

At a site designated by SXU's Education Division. If you work at a school, you might use your school for a portion of your field experiences.

If you leave your cohort due to unforeseeable circumstances and inform your advisor, you may be readmitted to another cohort or when the sequence of courses allow. You might have to pay a new rate of tuition if you join a different group. Also you must comply with the rules governing the new cohort that you join, including any additional coursework or testing.

Once you complete the required coursework and have passed all the state tests, you will be contacted by the licensure officer, who will forward the application form to you. Complete the forms online and return them to the licensure officer in order to be referred for entitlement.

If already licensed, two or perhaps three:

• General curriculum for special education (#163), which must be taken and passed prior to taking the EDGSP 525.
• Content area test, LBS I (#155), which must be taken and passed prior to student teaching or practicum

If not already licensed, four:

• The Basic Skills Requirement can be met in one of 7 ways:

  • a passing score on the "old" Illinois Tests of Basic Skills (096 or 300) -- replaced by the current Test of Academic Proficiency (TAP,) or
  • a passing score on all 4 sections of the Test of Academic Proficiency (TAP), or
  • a composite score on the ACT Plus Writing of 22 or higher and a minimum score of 19 on the Combined English/Writing on tests taken before 9/1/2015 (scores can be combined from two different score reports), or
  • a composite score on the ACT Plus Writing of 22 or higher and a minimum score of 16 in Writing on tests taken between 9/1/2015 and 9/1/2016 (scores can be combined from two different score reports), or
  • a composite score on the ACT Plus Writing of 22 or higher and a minimum score of 6 in Writing on tests taken after 9/1/2016 (scores can be combined from two different score reports), or
  • a composite score on the SAT of 1030 (critical reading + mathematics = 1030 or higher) and a minimum score of 450 on writing on tests taken before 3/5/2016 (scores can be combined from two different score reports), or
  • a composite score on the SAT of 1110 (Evidence-based Reading and Writing + Mathematics = 1110 or higher) and a minimum score of 26 on Writing and Language Test on tests taken on or after 3/5/2016 (scores can be combined from two different score reports).
• General curriculum for special education (#163), which must be taken and passed prior to taking EDGSP 525.
• Content area test, LBS I (#155), which must be taken and passed prior to student teaching or practicum
• edTPA which must be taken and passed during student teaching

You can apply online by visiting the Illinois Licensure Testing System website.

During fall (August-December and spring (January-May) semesters, courses meet one night per week (the same night of the week for the cohort) from 5 to 9:30 p.m. During the summer terms (May-July), courses meet two nights per week (the cohort night plus one other night) from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Cohorts typically do not meet from mid-December to mid-January and from mid-July to mid-August. In addition, there is typically a one-week spring break, usually in March.