Bard College to Offer New 3+2 Program Leading to Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Teaching Degrees

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—Beginning in September 2015, Bard College and the Bard MAT Program (MAT) will partner to offer a new BA/MAT 3+2 program. The new program is designed to offer Bard undergraduates a path to a master of arts in teaching degree and a New York State grades 7–12 teacher certification in biology, history, literature, or mathematics within five years of entering college. Subject matter mastery, integration into the College’s undergraduate programs, and extensive residencies in public schools during year five are key elements of the new program. Bard undergraduates will integrate disciplinary studies into field-work requirements through tutoring and other placements.

“Excellent teachers are intellectually curious, passionate about their subject matter, and committed to public service and social justice,” said Derek Furr, associate professor of literature and MAT Program director. “In my experience, those are also characteristics of Bard undergraduates. We need them in secondary school classrooms and educational leadership positions, and the Bard BA/MAT 3+2 will help them get there.”

Bard’s MAT program emphasizes deep knowledge of subject matter to be an essential quality of a successful teacher. The BA/MAT 3+2 is not designed to be a preprofessional track or education studies minor. Undergraduates will receive advisement, engage in work with adolescents, and take courses that prepare them for the MAT program while remaining focused on the studies of their disciplinary major. All state-mandated pedagogical practice courses and student-teaching experiences take place in year five. MAT work during junior and senior years is integrated into the students’ majors and electives, and is intended to tap into a student’s expressed interest.

Bard undergraduates will be admitted into the 3+2 program during sophomore year at moderation, contingent on the discipline area prerequisites and an advisement process, which replaces the usual MAT application required of prospective students. The MAT Program certifies in biology, history, literature, and mathematics. Most undergraduates will come to the program having majored in those disciplines. However, students majoring in other disciplines are eligible for the program, so long as they have completed applicable discipline-area prerequisites. The Bard MAT Program has more than 300 graduates, many of whom also received B.A. degrees from Bard, working in education around the United States and internationally.

For more information about the Bard MAT 3+2 program, please visit www.bard.edu/mat or contact Derek Furr at 845-758-7136 or [email protected]. 

About the MAT Program at Bard College

The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program at Bard College, founded in 2003, integrates graduate study in education and the academic disciplines with extensive apprentice teaching in middle and secondary school classrooms. It prepares teachers for a wide range of educational settings, urban and rural, around the United States and internationally. Completion of the program leads to a master of arts in teaching degree and New York State Initial Teaching Certification or California Single Subject Credentialing (grades 7–12) in one of four areas: biology/general science, literature/English, mathematics, and history/social science. Having completed an undergraduate degree in their chosen field, students may earn the M.A.T. degree in one-year (full-time) or two-year (part-time) options. The MAT Program has three campus locations: in the Hudson Valley, New York; Los Angeles, California; and the West Bank. Currently, admission to the program in the West Bank is limited to Palestinian educators. 

About Bard College

Founded in 1860, Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, is an independent, nonsectarian, residential, coeducational college offering a four-year B.A. program in the liberal arts and sciences and a five-year B.A./B.S. degree in economics and finance. The Bard College Conservatory of Music offers a five-year program in which students pursue a dual degree—a B.Music and a B.A. in a field other than music—and offers an M.Music in vocal arts and in conducting. Bard also bestows an M.Music degree at Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bard and its affiliated institutions also grant the following degrees: A.A. at Bard High School Early College, a public school with campuses in New York City, Cleveland, and Newark, New Jersey; A.A. and B.A. at Bard College at Simon’s Rock: The Early College, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and through the Bard Prison Initiative at six correctional institutions in New York State; M.A. in curatorial studies, M.S. in economic theory and policy, and M.S. in environmental policy and in climate science and policy at the Annandale campus; M.F.A. and M.A.T. at multiple campuses; M.B.A. in sustainability in New York City; and M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in the decorative arts, design history, and material culture at the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan. Internationally, Bard confers dual B.A. degrees at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Russia (Smolny College); American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan; and Bard College Berlin: A Liberal Arts University; as well as dual B.A. and M.A.T. degrees at Al-Quds University in the West Bank. 

Bard offers nearly 50 academic programs in four divisions. Total enrollment for Bard College and its affiliates is approximately 5,000 students. The undergraduate College has an enrollment of more than 1,900 and a student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1. For more information about Bard College, visit www.bard.edu.

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December 4, 2014

This event was last updated on 12-04-2014

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