What can I do with a BA in Ed.

amother

Yellow

Wed, Feb 17 2016, 11:11 pm

Are there any career options with just a BA assuming that I get NYS certified?
I'm not ready to start my MA yet, but will my BA essentially be worthless without it?

seeker

Thu, Feb 18 2016, 1:07 am

If you get certified you will be able to apply for most of the same jobs as anyone with a master's would. Jobs that pay more for a masters would be even more likely to hire you because many places would rather pay less than get someone with more education.

HOWEVER beware that if you are not ready to do your masters soon, then your NYS certification will expire and you will have to do many of the requirements all over again. Can you do a program that will let you take a few credits at a time? May be more likely to finish in time than waiting to start.

nicole81

Thu, Feb 18 2016, 1:18 am

You can get jobs in NY, even for the public schools. If you get certified, you have 5 years from the time you are granted your initial certification until it expires. This gives you a few years leeway before you begin your master's if professional certification is your goal.

seeker

Thu, Feb 18 2016, 1:38 am

I wouldn't put it off, though, because anything could come up to delay the masters and once your certificate expires that's an awful lot of work to re-do if you want to stay in the field.

amother

Yellow

Thu, Feb 18 2016, 7:35 am

Seeker and Nicole81, I am so confused!
I was originally told that once I begin my MA I have 3 years to complete it. But if I take my state exams (which I had assumed was synonymous with getting certified,) then I can do my masters whenever I want ,and my exams never "get lost" so to speak. I was specifically told that if I decide to pursue my masters even 10 years later I do not need to retake any exams. Just that once I actually start I need to complete within three years. This was told to me by a NYC PS superintendent. Is this inaccurate?

Can I become a P3 Provider (privately -not thru an agency ) without an MA? What about a SEIT?

Also, I'm hesitant to start my MA became of financial issues. Does anyone know the cheapest programs?

Thanks !

seeker

Thu, Feb 18 2016, 9:14 am

Call NYSED, the school personnel may not be up to date.

You need only the certification to do P3 and SEIT.

CUNY is probably the cheapest option in NY. The real cheapest would have been to NOT get a BA in ed and then you could be a teaching fellow or similar - grants for career changers. Oh well. There may be other grants for specific masters.

nicole81

Thu, Feb 18 2016, 12:22 pm

Once upon a time the DOE had hundreds of teachers with expired certificates still working within the system, but that's been long since cleaned up and the rules are pretty clear. Like seeker said, call the NYSED or you can even find the info on their site. And initial certificate expires within 5 years, and you may be able to be granted an extension but that's only for a couple of years as well. Even if you fall under the category of qualifying for a reissuance, you would still have to retake exams.

BTW you are not certified just from taking the relevant tests; you need to actually apply for the certificate through the TEACH system (NYSED) which includes a recommendation from your program and payment for the certificate.

Look into teacher loan forgiveness if you're worried about the costs. You can take Stafford loans to cover graduate school and after 5 full time years of teaching, qualify for either $5000 or $17,500 in federal loan forgiveness based on where you taught. And yes, CUNY would be the most economical option.