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Admission, Continuance, and Exit Requirements

Admission Requirements

Admission to the graduate program in early childhood education is granted by the department's graduate program director in conjunction with early childhood education faculty. The following requirements are necessary for admission to the program:

  1. A bachelor's degree with an academic content from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting body or an equivalent degree from a foreign institution, which includes (for students seeking licensure in the state of Virginia) the prerequisite course work required to meet the Virginia state competencies for PreK-3 (as listed above).
  2. An undergraduate grade point average of 2.80 or better;
  3. A Graduate Record Examination score of at least 900 (Verbal and Quantitative combined) - (minimum verbal compont of 400 or better); the GRE is waived for students who have graduated from the ODU Interdisciplinary Studies degree or Virginia Wesleyan with a 3.2 undergraduate grade point average.
  4. Successful completion of the Praxis 1 exam, as determined by the Virginia Department of Education (for all students pursuing teacher certification).*
  5. A 500 word goal statement indicating why the student wishes to enroll in the early childhood education program.

    Applicants whose GRE scores fall slightly below the minimum requirement may be considered for provisional admission and may be required to retake the GRE. Applicants whose grade point average falls below the acceptable range may be required to take academic content courses to bring their GPA up to the required minimum.

Continuance Requirements

  1. Maintain a grade point average of 3.00;
  2. Earn no more than two grades below B- (2.70). Students must retake courses in which grades below B- are earned and receive grades of B or higher. Obtaining three grades below B- leads to expulsion from the program.
  3. For certification (PK-3), successfully complete Practicum (ESSE 688) with a grade of B or better in order to be approved for student teaching.

Exit Requirements

  1. Have a grade point average of 3.00 or better and a grade of B- or better in all course work;
  2. Pass the college writing proficiency examination - IF Praxis l has NOT been a requirement;
  3. Pass the written comprehensive examination (with no more than one successful re-examination); 
  4. Successfully complete all requirements for the program and University requirements for graduation including the graduate exit survey.