Academic Programs - Early Childhood Education
The Master of Arts in Teaching: Early Childhood (Pre-K to Grade 5–ECCO)
Admissions Guidelines
Applications are due on 1 December of each year for admission in the following summer or fall semester; the application must be fully complete by 15 January. The Graduate School lists a different deadline for matriculating in Maymester, but ECCO applicants must meet the earlier deadline.
ECCO applicants must submit applications both to the graduate school and to the Department of Elementary and Social Studies Education. The departmental application included below must be completed and sent to the Graduate Coordinator, Department of Elementary and Social Studies Education, University of Georgia, 427 Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA, 30602-7122.
Applicants must submit to the Graduate School:
- The Graduate School application form
- Application fee
- Two official copies of transcripts from all institutions attended
- Official scores from GRE or Miller Analogies Test (MAT)
- Three names of references who will write letters of recommendation
The GRE or MAT must have been taken within 5 years of the expected semester of matriculation at UGA. International applicants are also required to submit results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS); the scores from TOEFL or IELTS may not be more than 2 years old.
The application form, information regarding the GRE and Miller Analogies Test, and other important information are all available at Graduate School Admissions website.
Applicants must submit to the Department of Elementary and Social Studies Education:
- A completed Early Childhood Education ECCO application form
- An essay as described in the online application form
Send the program application and essay to Graduate Coordinator, Department of Elementary and Social Studies Education, 629 Aderhold Hall, University of Georgia, Athens GA 30602
To be admitted to the program, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and should have a minimum 3.0 undergraduate grade point average. Applicants who submit GRE results should have a total (verbal plus quantitative) score of 850, with a minimum score of 400 on each of the verbal and quantitative subtests (if the test was taken prior to August 2011) or a minimum score of 146 verbal or 140 quantitative (if the test was taken subsequent to August 2011). Applicants who submit Miller Analogies Test results should have a minimum scaled score of 402.
As stated in the departmental application form, each applicant must also submit an essay. On the basis of the essay and letters of recommendation, department faculty will select applicants to be interviewed. After the interviews are conducted, the faculty will select from the pool of interviewed applicants those who will be admitted to ECCO.
Questions about the program and the application process may be addressed to the following faculty and staff:
Dr. Jennifer Hauver James, Graduate Coordinator, (706) 542-3541 or jhjames@uga.edu
Ms. Clayton Foggin, ECCO MAT Academic Advisor, (706) – 542-4275 or cfoggin@uga.edu
Linda Dunbar, at (706) 542-3967 or ldunbar@uga.edu, in the Elementary and Social Studies Department graduate programs office, can also answer questions about the application process.
The phone number for the graduate school admissions office is (706) 542-1739 and you can contact Graduate Admissions at gradadm@uga.edu.
