The University of Iowa Online Master’s in STEM Education

“The importance of a diverse STEM-educated workforce to the nation's prosperity, security, and competitiveness grows every year.”¹

We urgently need more highly qualified and effective STEM teachers to create that workforce. The online MS in STEM Education, focusing on integrated inquiry and innovation, will help you prepare K-12 students to thrive in the 21st-century economy. Earn this experience-rich degree no matter where you live in as little as two years on a part-time schedule.

• Complete in as few as 2 years
• Start in Spring, Summer, or Fall
• 8-week courses
• No GRE

The University of Iowa has been moving education forward for more than 175 years. In the 1930s, we hosted the first educational television station in the country. Today we’re pioneering new and better ways to teach STEM subjects to students at all grade levels. That's one reason U.S. News and World Report ranks us as the #23 Best Online Master’s in Education and the #1 college in Iowa.^{2, 3}

You don’t have to give up your other commitments to complete this 24-month program, which is thoughtfully designed for working teachers. You can begin the program when the time is right for you and carry a part-time course load, taking one 8-week class at a time, without courses overlapping.

Asynchronous course delivery and our robust online learning platform allow you to work on your schedule while sharing the journey with peers and professors.

Because you can keep teaching while you learn, you can immediately see the impact of your new skills and techniques as they help your students thrive.

Learn mathematical modeling as an integrated approach for teaching science, engineering and technology, as well as math. You’ll engage in a process that focuses on understanding new concepts based on existing knowledge and includes:

• Developing conjectures
• Critiquing arguments
• Revising ideas to reach conclusions

This course will show you how to create a learning environment that helps your students understand the core concepts in STEM and apply them to real-world situations.

Explore the shifting paradigm of technology deployment in K-12 settings. Examine several topics related to technology in education, including

• Diversity and equity
• Theories of technology-enhanced teaching and learning
• Digital citizenship and more

Get a big-picture perspective on how technology shapes curriculum, teacher professional development, and student learning and identity development.

A third of your course credits for the MS in STEM Education at Iowa derive directly from your independent work to synthesize the concepts you’ve learned and apply them in your local school environment.

Through partnerships with local organizations and STEM experts, you will develop research projects and lesson plans that address teaching standards in your subject and school system, and present it all to your classmates at the end of the course. Students typically take the 6-semester-hour capstone course (EDTL 6764) in the summer.

You decide, with support and advice from our expert faculty, which to pursue as your capstone experience. Students have done projects on endangered species, water quality monitoring and conservation, and the flow of energy and matter in an ecosystem, among others.

View the video

Iowa’s MS in STEM Education provides immediate career impact for licensed STEM teachers and practitioners, and sound preparation for doctoral work.

Although a master’s degree is not required for most K-12 teaching positions, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that a master’s degree can boost your salary. Nationally and across professions, those with master’s degrees earn an average of 18% more than those whose highest degree is a bachelor’s.⁴

Your master’s degree also opens doors to educational leadership and administration opportunities.

• K-12 classrooms
• Community programs
• Content creation and publishing
• Education advocacy
• Instructional leadership
• Curriculum development

Candidates for the MS in STEM Education should have a teaching license or certification and a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4-point scale from a bachelor’s degree program that included an educator preparation program.

Candidates with degrees or professional experience in the following areas are preferred.

• A science or math subject area
• Science or math education
• Elementary education with a science or math emphasis

Candidates who do not fit this description may still be admitted. Explore your options with an admissions outreach advisor.

More Admissions Info