Master's Degrees

Disability & Psychoeducational Studies

Special Education M.A. (Deaf and Hard of Hearing)

Get certified to teach in a growing field. Teachers with a high-quality certification in working with deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) students are in high demand.

Earn your MA in Special Education, your Arizona teacher of deaf/hard of hearing certification and your national certification from the Council on the Education of the Deaf (CED), all in one place.

You will build the skills to work in a wide range of classroom settings with coursework including language and literacy assessment and intervention, instructional methods and strategies, audiology, speech and language development, cultural diversity and research. Focus on addressing the needs of students within public school settings through communication and literacy development and put your learning into practice through a practicum and a final full-time teaching internship.

Graduates have gone on to teach D/HH students as either itinerant, resource room or self-contained classroom teachers. Itinerant teachers travel from school to school to provide on-site services and support, while resource room teachers have D/HH classrooms on general education campuses and self-contained classroom teachers typically work at center schools for the deaf or in public school programs.

Empower Your Teaching: Specialize in Deaf Education.
Shape the Future: Master D/HH Education Today.
Learn, Lead, and Innovate in Special Education.

Eligibility: This program is designed for applicants holding a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited college or university in education or a related field with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Eligible applicants should have experience with special needs and/or D/HH students.

*Residents of some U.S. Territories may not be eligible. Please see our Eligibility & State Authorization page for more information.

Sample Courses

  • SERP 530: Educational Issues: DHH Children
  • SERP 537: Literacy Assessment and Intervention for DHH students
  • SERP 567: Audiology Practices in Education

Requirements For Admission

The following requirements must be met to be considered for admission to the Special Education - DHH Master’s program:

1. A bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in education or related field,
2. a grade point average of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) on at least the last 60 units of coursework, 
3. a grade of “A” or “B” in at least one American Sign Language course (as evidenced on college or university transcripts), and
4. experience with children, including children with special needs and/or children who are DHH.

The department requires the following documents to complete your application:

  • Unofficial transcripts of all previous college work from each college or university previously attended must be uploaded with your application.  Applicants recommended for admission will be required to submit final official transcripts to the Graduate College admissions office.
  • Regarding official transcripts:  Learn more.
  • English proficiency is one of the conditions for admission for all applicants whose native language is not English.  International students must provide acceptable English proficiency scores that are no older than two years.  The institutional code for the University of Arizona is 4832.
  • Three letters of recommendation from persons who have direct knowledge of your academic and/or professional performance and potential for graduate study. These letters should be recent. It is preferable to have letters of recommendation that are specific to admission to our program and your recommenders will be able to upload letters through this venue. (Look for instructions below)
  • Statement of purpose (1-2 pages, double spaced) that describes:
    • how the applicant's professional, educational, and life experiences have influenced the desire to pursue graduate studies in the area of Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
    • the applicant's career goals and how graduate study would contribute to their realization, and
    • the applicant's goals and objectives for graduate study

The GRE exam is not required.

Contact Us

For inquiries about the program, please contact Program Coordinator Liz Pina.