College Profile

Mission: The mission of the College of Education at UNC Charlotte is to prepare highly effective and ethical professionals who have a positive impact on children, youth, families, community, and schools and who are successful in urban and other diverse settings. This mission is accomplished through teaching, research, and community engagement that lead to improved practice and by working in partnership with schools, communities, and university colleagues.

Leadership: Mary Lynne Calhoun, Ph.D. is the Dean of the College. Melba Spooner, Ed.D. is Associate Dean.

Students: Over 3,100 students are enrolled in programs in the College of Education

Faculty: There are 117 full-time faculty in the College of Education

Urban Education: UNC Charlotte is located in the Charlotte Region, a 16-county area with over 200,000 P-12 students in urban and other diverse school settings. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is the largest employer of UNC Charlotte graduates, with approximately 2,000 alumni teaching in CMS. As one of its key strategic goals, the college focuses on developing and demonstrating expertise in urban education, as well as preparing excellent education professionals who will be successful in urban school settings.

Honors and Points of Pride

  • US News & World Report lists UNC Charlotte as one of America’s “best graduate schools of education”
  • The College of Education received the Urban Impact Award from the Council of the Great City Schools in 2006
  • The special education faculty is ranked in the top ten nationally in terms of scholarly productivity
  • 687 UNC Charlotte alumni are National Board Certified Teachers
  • The Department of Counseling received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2008 and the “Program of the Year” Award from the Southeastern Association of Counselor Education and Supervision in 2007
  • The Department of Educational Leadership received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2010.
  • The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership has reached the milestone of 100 graduates of the program.
  • Last year UNC Charlotte produced over 627 new teachers, the second highest number among North Carolina’s 47 colleges and universities. A total of 6,600 UNC Charlotte alumni are currently teaching in North Carolina’s schools
  • In addition to strong traditional undergraduate programs, the college has developed innovative graduate-level pathways to teaching careers, encouraging second-career professionals to become teachers (www.PathwayToTeaching.com)
  • The College of Education operates five research centers:
  • The Center for Adolescent Literacies
  • The Center for Educational Measurement and Statistics
  • The Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education
  • The Multicultural Play Therapy Center
  • NationalSecondary Transition Technical Assistance Center(OSEP, US-DOE)
  • Programs in the College are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, and are approved by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Degrees Offered by the College of Education

Baccalaureate degrees: Child & Family Development; Elementary Education; Middle Grades Education; Special Education

Masters degrees: Child & Family Studies; Counseling; Curriculum & Supervision; Elementary Education; Instructional Systems Technology; Middle Grades & Secondary Education; Reading, Language & Literacy; School Administration; Special Education; Academically Gifted; Master of Arts in Teaching; Teaching English as a Second Language

Doctoral degrees: Counseling; Curriculum & Instruction (literacy, mathematics, elementary education, urban education); Educational Leadership; Special Education.

In Collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the College of Arts & Architecture, the College of Education offers teacher education programs in the following disciplines: Art, Biology, Chemistry, Comprehensive Science, Comprehensive Social Studies, Dance, Earth Science, English, Foreign Languages (French, German, Spanish), History, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Theatre.