Humanities

The MEd school counseling program prepares professional counselors for employment in educational settings and is designed for those students intending to apply for the state educational staff associate certificate endorsed in school counseling at the elementary and secondary levels. Certification as a public school teacher is not required for admission to the program. The school counseling program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The program contains a thesis option for those students interested in pursuing a research project related to the degree program.

​ Prepare for the CRC Certification and Transform Lives Equip yourself for a rewarding career helping persons with physical, sensory, mental, developmental, cognitive, and emotional disabilities. The Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling at Western Washington University empowers competent counselors who are attentive to the dynamic and holistic needs of their clients. This degree prepares you to obtain Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) credentials and work in a variety of private and public sector settings. Program Features Top 20 Best Rehabilitation Counseling Programs (U.S. News & World Report) Convenient hybrid learning blends online courses with in-person classes No GRE required for admission Internship and practicum built into the curriculum CACREP Accredited What Will You Learn? Western’s master’s in rehabilitation counseling prepares you to partner with individuals with disabilities as a dedicated and qualified rehabilitation counselor. Engage in courses, practicum experience, and internships that cover theory, techniques, case management, professional issues, multicultural practice, career development, and more. This robust training will enable you to enhance your clients’ lives by working with them toward self-determination, independence, meaningful employment, and full community participation. Why WWU’s Rehabilitation Counseling Master’s Degree? Top-Ranked Accredited Rehabilitation Counseling Program Commit to a top-ranked, high-quality program to enhance your career prospects and assemble a powerful professional toolbox as you prepare for CRC certification. WWU’s rehabilitation counseling master’s degree program is ranked #19 in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report. The program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP). Online and On-Campus Hybrid Learning The master’s in rehabilitation counseling program is designed to work alongside your professional and personal commitments. On-campus courses are scheduled to meet one evening per week at the Everett University Center. Some courses are hybrid, meaning you’ll attend campus 5 times a quarter and complete the other weeks asynchronously online. We also offer fully asynchronous online course options. However you study, you’ll have the option to study full-time or part-time on a 2-, 3-, or 4-year completion track. Gain Counseling Experience through Internships To prepare for your professional practice, you’ll complete 16 credit hours of internships in rehabilitation counseling. You’ll find roles with local and partner rehabilitation agencies through networking opportunities, faculty recommendations, and Western’s Career Services Center. Program Curriculum and Courses Establish skills, competencies, and experience necessary to achieve Certified Rehabilitation Counselor status. The MA in rehabilitation counseling program involves 70 credits of rigorous core theory, including aspects like addictions and rehabilitation counseling, group counseling techniques, medical aspects of disability, and psychiatric disabilities in rehabilitation. You’ll also complete 20 credits of hands-on practicum and internship placements—opportunities that build your comfort and confidence in clinical settings. Review program curriculum Rehabilitation Counseling Career Outlook A master’s in rehabilitation counseling prepares you for Certified Rehabilitation Counselor recognition. As a rehabilitation counselor, you will provide assessments of abilities and functional limitations, develop plans consistent with individual clients’ needs, and partner with clients in achieving their goals. Together, you and your clients will explore a variety of paths toward success, including individual and group counseling, vocational training and education, and job development and placement. Rehabilitation counseling is a dynamic, rewarding, and growing field: the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 11% growth in demand for rehabilitation counselors over the next decade, a rate much higher than the average across all occupations. You will encounter employment opportunities in both public and private sectors, including state and federal rehabilitation agencies, nonprofit agencies, veterans’ programs, workers’ compensation agencies, hospitals, and universities. Our graduates are working at places like the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Department of Services for the Blind, VA hospitals, and more. [Click and drag to move] ​

Now more than ever, teachers need to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that new literacies in the classroom require. The Media and Digital Literacy Certificate is for teachers and educators who want to learn how to implement new literacy practices in their school community, regardless of grade level or content area. This one year, online sequence of four courses begins each summer. Students complete the certificate in the spring, and may be eligible to apply their coursework toward the Master of Education in Language and Literacy.

The Master in Teaching (MIT) program with emphasis in Multilingual Education is designed for candidates who wish to complete a Master’s degree with recommendation for Washington State Residency Certification to teach at the secondary level (middle and high school) and training in dual language education (through ELL and/or Bilingual endorsements). Our comprehensive MIT with emphasis in Multilingual Education program is firmly backed by current research of effective teaching and promoting student learning. Currently the program is only offered through Western’s South Seattle site. The program is designed specifically for multilingual working professionals who are employed by school districts in South King County. Classes will be held on evenings and/or Saturdays. Course work will integrate students’ classroom experience. This MIT program can be completed in six-seven quarters, including full-time student teaching (internship). We accept World Language, English, Science and Social Studies endorsements; please speak with us about other content-area endorsements. Why Consider Are you a multilingual individual excited by the possibility of teaching content in more than one of your languages? Do you want to learn how to teach in ways that sustain the languages and cultures of your students? Are you interested in teaching in middle and/or high school dual language and bilingual programs? Are you passionate about serving Immigrant and refugee families and communities? Dual language programs are growing throughout Washington State and districts are searching for multilingual teachers who are highly trained in methods of content and language teaching.

The Master in Teaching (MIT) program in Everett is designed for candidates who wish to complete a master’s degree while earning state of Washington residency certification required to teach at the secondary level (middle, junior high, and high school). Our comprehensive MIT program is firmly backed by current research on effective teaching and the promotion of student learning. The MIT program in Everett has attracted adult students from a variety of fields and professions who want to teach at the secondary level. The MIT program consists of 68 quarter credit hours completed over 7 quarters of academic study, including 14 weeks of full-time student teaching in local, public secondary education classrooms. This program is designed to accommodate the needs of students who need or wish to continue working while completing the program. Students generally take two or three courses during the academic quarter, which requires classroom attendance two or three nights per week between the hours of 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Our program seeks to admit 15-20 students each year.

The Master in Teaching (MIT) program is designed for candidates who wish to complete a master’s degree while earning state of Washington residency certification to teach at the secondary level (middle, junior high, and high school). Our comprehensive MIT program is firmly backed by current research on effective teaching and the promotion of student learning. The MIT program can be completed in five quarters, including the student teaching (internship) and is available at WWU's Bellingham campus or at WWU's Everett site.

This updated master’s degree is designed for educators who want to deepen their knowledge and practice in language and literacy instruction. It is ideal for classroom teachers and those who are or want to become reading specialists or literacy coaches. Graduates will leave with a strong understanding of literacy research and theory and effective teaching of language, reading, and writing. The Language and Literacy program has four main components: foundations, core study, independent research, and study in a concentration area. May provide Washington state additional endorsement in reading, ESOL, or bilingual education.

Why history at WWU? Western's History MA offers students an opportunity to deepen their understanding of historical methods and to produce an original work of scholarship. The MA thesis is filed with the library and in an online database available to researchers from around the world.

Our graduate program is fairly small, enrolling fifteen to twenty new students each year. We deliberately limit the size of our program so that we can offer close working relationships between faculty and graduate students. For this reason, our graduate seminars are limited to twelve students, and two graduate classes per quarter is the normal load. Graduate students work closely with faculty in graduate seminars, through internships, and on academic and literary journals published by the Department. We consider our intellectual environment to be an essential part of our graduate program. We schedule an exciting and diverse range of graduate seminars each year, with topics in national and global literatures, creative writing, composition and rhetoric, cultural studies, film, linguistics, literary theory, and pedagogy. Additionally, for those interested in becoming college-level teachers, our program offers in-depth experience and training. Our graduate students are also able to gain significant editing and publishing experience through work on the editorial staff of one or more of the journals supported by the English Department at Western. The Bellingham Review is a nationally recognized journal that has recently published creative writing by such authors as Charles Wright and Gary Soto, among others. One paid Managing Editor position is available for a second-year student, awarded on a competitive basis.

Western Washington University’s English Department offers a 2-year MFA program in Creative Writing within a community that values creative development and intellectual versatility. We encourage a focus on multigenre or cross-genre writing, based on our view that creative writing graduates need to be versatile in their comprehension of genre conventions and conversant in the way diverse genres inform one another. A variety of courses we offer stress either a multigenre focus or encourage experimental works that blur genre boundaries. Creative writing practice and literary study are synergistic in our program. Students take seminars in creative writing and literature, as well as courses in rhetorical thinking and composition, digital and technical writing, film studies, and linguistics. We offer Graduate Assistantships that provide quality teacher training, as well as opportunities to gain editorial experience with the award-winning journal Bellingham Review.