The College of Education is committed to creating an intellectual environment that promotes student success through quality on campus and technology-based instruction, significant research and external funding, and professional service. Our mission is to achieve prominence locally, nationally, and internationally in progressing the conversation for educational and mental health policy, practice, and research. Particular attention is focused on building and sustaining a diverse educator workforce, advancing educational and mental health supports, improving access to high-quality early childhood education, and contributing to educational and pedagogical knowledge through scholarly endeavors. The College of Education is committed to creating a learning environment that promotes and supports a culture of diversity, social justice, equity, and inclusion. Collaboration among students, faculty, other professionals, and community members is essential to being a premier college of education; strong reciprocal relationships with community partners enrich the intellectual and cultural vitality of the community.
The College of Education provides dynamic graduate programs that welcome students into field-based practice and research, offering students an exciting opportunity to study at a nationally recognized, research-intensive university situated within one of the fastest growing cities and school districts in the country. In addition to completing research through coursework and program benchmarks, students can engage in research through funded graduate assistantships and as student volunteers, working with faculty on grants and research projects or working with the outstanding COE Institutes, Centers, Labs, and Offices that conduct community-based and applied scholarship.
The College of Education offers graduate programs in school psychology, mental health counseling, teacher education, curriculum and instruction, higher education, educational psychology, educational policy and leadership, English language learning, special education, and early childhood education. Graduate programs in the College of Education include master, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees as well as post-baccalaureate certificates, and programs for initial teacher licensure and additional license endorsements. College of Education programs are available in four departments: Department of Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Services; Department of Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education; Department of Educational Psychology, Leadership, & Higher Education; and Department of Teaching & Learning. The College of Education has an outstanding graduate faculty who are internationally and nationally recognized for their scholarship and leadership in their respective disciplines.
The College of Education is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), which is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the regional authority on educational quality and institutional effectiveness of higher education institutions in the seven-state Northwest region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. It fulfills its mission by establishing accreditation criteria and evaluation procedures by which institutions are reviewed. The COE is also accredited by the State of Nevada and the National Association of School Psychologists.
Danica G. Hays, Ph.D., Dean
Jon Hilpert, Ph.D., Interim Associate Dean of Research and Sponsored Projects
Jeff Shih, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Student and Community Engagement
Kenneth J. Varner, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Academic Programs & Initiatives
Programs
Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Services
Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education
Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education
Teaching and Learning
College Information
College of Education
Dean’s Office