M. Ed. Administration & Supervision - Higher Ed. Home
  Program Themes | Coursework | Comprehensive Exam

Students have two choices to complete the program core requirements:

Comprehensive Exam Option

• Take the comprehensive exam and the following 2 courses:
  • ELCS 6393:Internship and
  • ELCS 6397: Statistics and Measurement

The Examination is a three-hour writing session composed of three questions that is offered during the following semesters:

• Fall - October
• Spring - February

 Students should apply for the exam in the last two semesters of their program through MyAdvisor.

Under exceptional circumstances, students may petition to take the comprehensive examination in the summer, but it must be approved by the advisor, graduate studies committee, and the department chairperson, and proctored by the advisor.

Approximately three months prior to the exam, the student will meet with his/her advisor to decide on two specific topics associated with courses the student has taken.  One course must be ELCS 7330 and the other may be selected from the program core courses.

The student will then contact faculty members associated with the courses and obtain agreement to provide an examination question.  If the student was taught by a part-time or adjunct faculty member, the student should request the question from the full-time faculty member responsible for overseeing that course.

The faculty members should provide the student appropriate review materials.    Under no circumstances should a student be given an exact question that will appear on the exam.

At least five working days before the application deadline, the students should contact his or her advisor and other faculty members to ensure that they submit the questions to both the advisor and the executive secretary of the department.  The UH catalog number and title of the course must be used.  For example: CUIN 6301: The Teaching Profession.

• At least one full-time College of Education faculty members will write and grade the questions.  Adjunct or part-time faculty may not grade the questions.
• Educational Psychology Department staff will send the written responses to the appropriate faculty advisor five working days after the exam. 

Each faculty member is responsible for scoring the question and returning it within fifteen working days.  The scoring will be Pass or Fail.

The Executive Associate Dean of the College of Education notifies the student of the results of his/her examination.

• The student must Pass both questions.  If the student Fails any of the questions, he/she needs to retake a similar question (or questions) from the same general area(s) within the next academic year.  This requires, once again, following all the previous procedures.

If the student Fails any part of the examination a second time, they shall be ineligible for a master’s degree in the College of Education at the University of Houston.

Master's Thesis Option

Students in the M.Ed. Higher Education program may elect to complete a thesis (instead of the internship and research course choice).  This project typically involves the collection, analysis, and interpretation of quantitative and/or qualitative data. 

• While completing their theses, students are required to complete a minimum of 6 hours of Master’s Thesis coursework:
  • ELCS 6399: Master's Thesis
  • ELCS 7399: Master's Thesis

Students may register for additional hours, but only 6 hours may be listed on their degree plan.