波尔州立大学

If you teach or want to teach mathematics at a community college, consider what Ball State’s online master of arts (MA) in post-secondary foundational mathematics teaching can do for your career and your classroom:

• You can continue to teach while you pursue the degree because our program is offered 100 percent online.
• You’ll learn to effectively teach general education mathematics courses that are not calculus-based at the community college level.
• You’ll have the reward of helping students find first-year success in a subject that can often be the stumbling block that keeps them from earning their degrees.
• As you guide your students to first-year success, they’ll have a better chance of finishing their degrees, graduating on time, and continuing studies toward a four-year degree.
• You’ll be part of one of the few programs across the country that focuses on teaching math to adult learners.

Other Program Features

• Ball State’s program combines topics in math content, math pedagogy, and the needs of adult learners like yourself, all of which are important components of programs for community college instructors.
• Our online graduate education programs are ranked 11th in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.
• You can complete the program in 18 months to two years as a full-time student. But if you are teaching full time in a community college and want to attend part time, you can finish in 2½ to 3 years, by taking about one course each semester.

Career Outlook

Recent U.S. labor market data show that the MA in post-secondary foundational mathematics teaching is a career in demand:

• The U.S. Department of Education reports that there’s an inadequate pipeline of teachers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields.
• The White House challenged the nation in 2013 to recruit 100,000 new effective STEM teachers over the next decade.
• Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development (IDWD) projects a 15.4 percent growth in postsecondary mathematical science teachers by 2020.
• The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, projects nearly 17,000 openings for postsecondary math teachers due to growth and replacements.
• An increasing number of professionals are transitioning to mathematics teaching careers at community colleges from positions outside of education, and do not have secondary teaching experience, according to a study by Kathy Rogotzke at Iowa State University.

Course Requirements

The MA in foundational mathematics teaching in the community college consists of 30 credits. It is not a licensure program.

All courses are offered in an asynchronous format, meaning there is no specific sign-on time each week. Instead, you have weekly assignments and deadlines that you complete at times and places most convenient to you.