MS in Chemistry, Concentration in Chemistry Education with Teacher Certification

2 Years On Campus Masters Program

Georgia State University

Program Overview

The M.S. in Chemistry, Concentration in Chemistry Education with Teacher Certification at Georgia State University combines advanced chemistry study with education coursework and practica, preparing students to teach chemistry at the middle- and high-school levels while meeting the requirements for Georgia teacher certification. The two-year program is designed for students who want to deepen their chemistry content knowledge while developing teaching skills and pedagogical content knowledge through the College of Arts & Sciences and College of Education & Human Development.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students begin building advanced chemistry knowledge alongside education and teaching preparation. The official program structure comprises 18 hours of graduate-level Chemistry coursework and 21 hours of Education coursework and practica overall; Georgia State also identifies research-skill options such as nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, molecular modeling, computer language, technical writing, statistics, or electronics.

Year 2: Students continue their chemistry and education coursework and complete the program's practical teaching requirements, while developing a digital dossier documenting their growth and learning. The dossier is evaluated at the midpoint and final stages of the cohort sequence, and students must pass all required portfolio elements for approval for certification.

Course structure: Georgia State's official program page does not publish a year-by-year course sequence or identify the individual required course numbers/titles for all 18 Chemistry and 21 Education/practicum hours; it directs students to the university course catalog for the full list of required and elective coursework.

Focus areas: Advanced chemistry content knowledge, chemistry education, pedagogical content knowledge, science teaching and learning, teaching students from diverse backgrounds, and Georgia teacher certification.

Learning outcomes: Expand and deepen chemistry knowledge, develop tools for science teaching and learning, strengthen teaching skills and pedagogical content knowledge, and understand teaching students from diverse backgrounds.

Professional Alignment (Accreditation): The program is designed to meet the requirements for teaching certification in the State of Georgia, with chemistry requirements overseen by the Department of Chemistry and education/certification requirements overseen by the Department of Middle and Secondary Education; applicants must also complete the Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment and satisfy the applicable certification requirements. The official program page does not state a separate specialized accreditation for this specific M.S. concentration.

Reputation (Employability Rankings): Georgia State University states that the program responds to the growing need for chemistry teachers, particularly in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and identifies careers in STEM as among the fastest-growing occupations based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics information. The official program page does not publish a specific QS, Guardian, or program-level employability ranking for this concentration.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The M.S. in Chemistry, Concentration in Chemistry Education with Teacher Certification at Georgia State University combines advanced chemistry study with education coursework and supervised practica, allowing students to strengthen both chemistry content knowledge and practical teaching skills. The program includes 18 graduate credit hours in Chemistry and 21 credit hours of Education coursework and practica, with students developing a digital dossier throughout the program to document their growth and learning. Chemistry instruction is overseen by the Department of Chemistry, while the teaching-certification component is managed by the Department of Middle and Secondary Education, creating a deliberately integrated science-and-teaching experience.

Hands-on learning and program-specific resources include:

Education practica: The 21 hours of Education coursework and practica provide practical preparation for classroom teaching alongside the advanced chemistry curriculum.
Digital dossier: Every student develops a digital dossier throughout the program to document growth and learning; portfolios are evaluated at the midpoint and final stages of the cohort sequence.
Chemistry teaching laboratories: The Department of Chemistry is housed in the Petit Science Center, Science Annex, and Natural Science Center, which contain teaching laboratories as well as research laboratories.
Advanced NMR facility: Students have access to a departmental NMR research environment featuring Bruker Avance III HD 600 MHz, Bruker Avance III 400 MHz, and Bruker Avance 400 MHz spectrometers, supporting chemical and biomolecular analysis.
Mass spectrometry: Georgia State's Mass Spectrometry Facility provides modern instrumentation for chemical and biological analysis, including LC-MS, UPLC, MALDI-TOF, triple-quadrupole MS, and GC-MS, with capabilities for accurate-mass analysis and MS/MS experiments.
Analytical instrumentation: Departmental facilities include UV/Vis spectrophotometers, FT-IR, fluorescence and circular-dichroism spectrophotometers, stopped-flow instrumentation, HPLC, FPLC, capillary electrophoresis, GC/mass spectrometry, ITC and DSC instruments.
Chemistry laboratory tools: The department's laboratory resources include practical work involving IR, NMR, titration-data analysis and organic chemistry laboratory techniques, with Excel specifically referenced for plotting titration data.
Research facilities: The Department of Chemistry supports research through dedicated NMR and Mass Spectrometry facilities as well as shared resources for DNA and peptide synthesis, proteomics, imaging, and fermentation.
Teacher-certification field preparation: Students completing the educator preparation requirements can pursue Georgia teacher certification through the university's certification process; Georgia State's Office of Field Placements and Certification supports the recommendation process following completion of program requirements and the appropriate GACE content assessments.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The M.S. in Chemistry, Concentration in Chemistry Education with Teacher Certification is designed to prepare graduates for chemistry teaching at the middle- and high-school levels while strengthening both advanced chemistry knowledge and pedagogical skills. Graduates can pursue roles such as Chemistry Teacher, Secondary Science Teacher, STEM Educator, and Curriculum Developer, with the program specifically meeting requirements for Georgia teacher certification.

Career support and progression:

University career services: Georgia State’s University Career Services provides education-focused career resources covering classroom management, curriculum knowledge, educational technology, assessment tools, lesson planning, and data analysis. It also identifies opportunities such as classroom shadowing, student teaching, practicum placements, community-based internships, and research assistantships, with Atlanta Public Schools, Cobb County Public Schools, DeKalb County Public Schools, Fulton County Public Schools, and Gwinnett County Public Schools listed among education-sector employers.
Employment outlook and salary: Georgia State’s career-services information reports 8% projected growth in education jobs through 2030 and identifies STEM-related education among the areas with the fastest employment growth. Its education career page lists a $47,000–$57,000 starting salary range for Special Education Specialists/Teachers; a program-specific salary figure for chemistry teachers is not stated on the official MS program page.
School-district partnership: Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development has partnered with Gwinnett County Public Schools to expand STEM teachers’ STEM knowledge and teaching skills, providing a direct connection between the university’s education expertise and a major local school district.
Certification value: The program is structured to meet the requirements for Georgia teaching certification, and students complete education coursework and practica alongside graduate chemistry coursework. After meeting the applicable GACE requirements, Georgia State’s Office of Field Placements and Certification can issue the university’s recommendation for teacher certification; the office also provides verification for other states whose certification boards accept Georgia standards.
Long-term accreditation value: Georgia State University is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award master’s degrees, with accreditation reaffirmed in 2019. The university states that accreditation supports recognition and transfer of college credits and that an accredited degree is a standard prerequisite for admission to many graduate programs.
Program outcomes: The program combines 18 hours of graduate chemistry coursework with 21 hours of education coursework and practica, with goals including deeper chemistry knowledge, development of science-teaching tools, and preparation for teaching students from diverse backgrounds. Students also develop a digital dossier documenting their growth and learning throughout the program, which is evaluated at the midpoint and conclusion of the cohort sequence.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the M.S., students can continue into doctoral-level study in chemistry or chemistry education. Georgia State’s Chemistry Department offers a Ph.D. in Chemistry with specialization areas including Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysical/Computational Chemistry, Organic/Medicinal Chemistry, and Chemistry Education, providing a direct pathway for graduates who want to move toward advanced research, higher education, or specialized chemistry-education careers.