The LMU School of Education has added its first undergraduate degree to its program offerings with the addition of the Education and Learning Sciences (Liberal Studies) BA, previously housed under the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts.
The LMU Education and Learning Sciences (Liberal Studies) program offers students the unique opportunity to earn their BA while simultaneously earning a California Preliminary Multiple Subject Credential in four years. Throughout the program, students engage with elementary students in schools and in the wider community through school-based art, field-based science, school site clinical practice experiences and community-based tutoring opportunities. Students also have ample opportunities to conduct faculty-guided research, with many participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), the McNair Scholars program, and the Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Moving the Education and Learning Sciences (Liberal Studies) program to SOE closely aligns with the school’s priority to meet the demands of the nationwide teacher shortage. In recent years, SOE has led initiatives to encourage students to consider a career in education and established partnerships with organizations to bring new teachers into the profession. SOE’s first undergraduate degree program will address this nationwide need by preparing students for successful careers as elementary educators, specifically in grades K-5, immediately upon graduating.
“I am thrilled to welcome LMU’s Education and Learning Sciences (Liberal Studies) students to SOE,” said Michelle D. Young, Ph.D., dean of the LMU School of Education. “I feel very strongly that the kinds of students that LMU attracts are exactly the people we need so much in the teaching profession—empathetic, smart, adaptable, and willing to roll up their sleeves and pitch in with others to build a more equitable and just world.”
