Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Washburn University, Kansas State, Wichita State, and Haskell Indian Nations University.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Dodge City Community College and Seward County Community College and Area Technical School.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Seward County Community College and Area Technical School, Baker University, University of Saint Mary, and Dodge City Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Benedictine, Haskell Indian Nations University, McPherson College, and Bethany.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Barclay, Sterling College, Bethel, and Tabor College.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Bethel.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Newman University, Haskell Indian Nations University, Barclay, and Sterling College.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Bethel, Bethany, Sterling College, and McPherson College.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Emporia State University • Emporia, KS
Studying Elementary Education (completion in 2002)
• 6/28/2011
"I am satisfied because the coursework was a breeze, but I'm not sure if I really got my money's worth. Although another school would have cost slightly more, I may have gotten a higher quality of instruction."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The flexible class schedules and easy coursework makes this a good school for an aspiring teacher. However, if you want to pursue an advanced degree at another school, you may not be adequately prepared. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Emporia State is known in Kansas as the "teaching college," but that is based on the number of teachers the school graduates every year. Quantity, however, does not equal quality. |
| Instruction | 8 | In teaching, there is a student teacher program that puts you in multiple classrooms under a veteran teacher prior to graduating. The student teacher program allows you to get a good hands on experience prior to doing it alone. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The coursework was not as challenging as I think it could have been. Papers often did not require citation and minimum page limits were very low. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There were plenty of opportunities to mix lecture and book work with hands on experience. In addition to traditional coursework, we shadowed teachers and administrators while also doing several interviews with professional educators. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | Emporia State is known for flexible class schedules, which is why they graduate so many students per year. They have numerous classes online, which require no (or minimal) classroom attendance. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | The facilities are average. Other, more expensive school's have newer facilities, but Emporia State's facilities are in decent shape, just a little outdated. A good remodeling certainly wouldn't hurt, but would that probably result in a tuition increase. |
| Social Life | 2 | There were plenty of opportunities to participate in social experiences, but I wasn't interested in them. I went to school and came home, that was it. This may have been partly because I was already married and had a family by the time I went to college. If I was younger, my social experience may have been different. |
| Placement Services | 6 | Deans are quick to send out an e-mail to students when he/she is made aware of an opening, which is nice. In today's economy, all career services are slim, but that is understandable. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | The school does not have a network or alumni association that you immediately feel connected to after graduation. A phone call or letter from an alumni shortly after graduation would help. As of now, there is nothing. |
Kansas State University • Manhattan, KS
Studying Bachelor Of Science In Elementary Education (completion in 2000)
• 7/6/2011
"I am very satisfied with my school because it gave me the education that I needed. I was a little bit jaded and upset when I did not get a job immediately after graduating, but I did get the position I wanted a year later as a full time teacher, teaching the age group I wanted to work with."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend students that are seeking an elementary education degree go to K-State. It may be tough at times depending on your personal journey, but it can be a very rewarding career that directly impacts people's lives. That may sound cheesy, but I have been in other career fields and for me, working with kids is more enjoyable than working with adults! If you want to be an educator of any sort, K-State can give you the tools you need to make that happen. It has a beautiful campus, a great program, and instructors that work with you. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | I think that we have a great reputation. K-State places at regional and state competitions, is a very reputable school, and is very well known. I think it is rated highly for the level of education it delivers. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The administration seems to be able to change more to the program than they actually do. I wish I could see more follow through. I would be able to deliver a better education to my students with more support from the administration. |
| Instruction | 9 | I loved going to K-State and my instruction was great. I received a lot of hands on learning, and I had a great experience as a student teacher as part of the program. I am very satisfied with the education I received at Kansas State and the way I was taught. I felt very well prepared and I liked my instructors. |
| How Difficult | 4 | I had a passion for teaching because my mother was a teacher, and I was very devoted to the curriculum. In this regard, I found the program easy. I never really struggled with any of the concepts I was taught because I loved what I was doing, and they say when you love what you do that you never work a day in your life. I had a few ridiculously hard finals, but overall I found the curriculum easy to comprehend. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I think my school teaches with a large amount of hands on learning, as well as book learning. I think they are used evenly, and I think that having that balance was extremely effective because it never became mind numbingly boring. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | My school has a huge selection of courses that are available to attend on the weekend, in the evening, during the summer, or online. Compared to a community college I went to, K-State was extremely flexible and I believe people with all types of needs and work schedules could be accommodated there. |
| Academic Facilities | 3 | I believe we have an adequate level of resources and academic advisors. However, we are failing in terms of seating and classroom space. There are far too many students and not enough teachers. The ratio is not good. |
| Social Life | 9 | I had a great social experience, and it was a rich and planned environment. There were plenty of events and coordinated affairs. |
| Placement Services | 7 | The job placement program was not magic, but it did provide me with a lot of assistance. There were always resources open to me, and I received a great deal of help preparing my resume after I graduated and I had a huge network of contacts. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | K-State's alumni network is very developed and there is a lot of information available online. There is a special website and section of the main website devoted to alumni and resources for alumni. |
Pittsburg State University/KC Metro Site • Pittsburg/Lenexa, KS
Studying Adaptive Special Education PreK-12 (completion in 2009)
• 6/29/2011
"I enjoyed the more mature atmosphere at the Metro Site in KC. It was a very professional and appropriate learning site for professionals earning their degree to become highly qualified."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The flexibility and helpful attitudes of the staff provided me with a learning environment conducive to being a productive learner. Everyone was there for one reason... to gain the needed knowledge that would help us be better prepared for the challenges of teaching students with special needs. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | I recommend this program all the time to special education teachers needing to become highly qualified. It is an organized, flexible, and fast paced program. |
| Program Quality | 9 | It was nice that PSU had a campus for those living in the Kansas City area. The program and administration was flexible and always helpful with what the next steps were. |
| Instruction | 8 | The program courses were designed around the benchmarks and goals set out by the state. Not all courses were as interesting as others. The professors always put forth their best. |
| How Difficult | 7 | I was definitely challenged with the course work. There was time left on weekends and nights for leisure, but my projects and papers were on my mind. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | A nice mix of both. As teachers you use scenarios and discussion to drive a lot of teachings. This was practiced for our learning as well. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | As long as you were able to stay on schedule with your cohort, it was extremely flexible and manageable with a teacher's working schedule. All my classes where in the evening during the school year and then summer and online offerings were easily accessed. Online options were mostly offered for summer classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Since I was at the Metro, we didn't really have a library. But there was a computer lab and the building we used had lots of space for the classes held. Study groups were formed through classmates. I never had a complaint. |
| Social Life | 5 | Again, at the Metro site, we were more there to get the job done. School spirit was an afterthought for us. |
| Placement Services | 10 | I do not have experience with this part of the program as I was already working in a district in my desired position. I can only speculate from the connections and networking with other colleagues from my classes that a job would be within reach of those pursuing one. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | I do not take advantage of the alumni's offerings. Probably because I feel like I was only at PSU to get my Master's and not attach myself to the school. |
Kansas State University • Manhattan, KS
Studying Elementary Education (completion in 2006)
• 8/10/2011
"The English and Theatre program were great. I learned a lot. The College of Education did not do a very good job, though, because they did a bad job of explaining things."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | The college of education couldn't decide on which teaching method to use. That made it confusing and hard to learn. |
| Program Reputation | 3 | K-State's elementary education program is known for it's favoritism with sorority girls. They seem to do better in their classes than others. |
| Program Quality | 3 | The professors are good, but the administration and program itself is horrible. This may have changed in the past 5 years though. There was also a student favoritism problem as well. |
| Instruction | 5 | The professors were either hit or miss. My Reading, English, Social Studies, Gym, Special Ed, and Multicultural professors were great. They were helpful and fun. My Math, Music, Art, Science, and Seminar professors and my Student teaching adviser were terrible at explaining stuff, and they were impatient. |
| How Difficult | 4 | This program was easy but time consuming. I felt like for over half of my classes I had to do pointless and time consuming work. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The college of Education did not use many text books. The only classes that I used text books for were math and science. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | All of the classes at Kansas State University were flexible. I was able to get my schedule while taking 15 hours (a full load) in which I didn't have Friday Classes (or just 1 Friday class) over my last 3 semesters of college. K-State also offered classes during spring break as well. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | K-State had great libraries. There was the big 5-story gigantic main library and a lot of departments had their own libraries as well. Many of the buildings and dorms had study rooms you could reserve. |
| Social Life | 8 | My social experience at the college of education was terrible. My social experience with K-state was great. The student Union had great events. There were over 180 clubs, many sports, and more. |
| Placement Services | 4 | I do not know a whole lot about other schools' job placement programs. I know it seemed pretty good, as we had recruiters come to campus. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | K-State only seems to help those who donate money. I get a survey every year about how they can help and I never hear back. |
Sterling College • Sterling, KS
Studying Secondary Education (completion in 2009)
• 9/18/2011
"I was prepared adequately for my job. I acquired quite a bit of knowledge that I still have."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I would recommend this school to someone who likes a small school environment. If one wanted a bigger city to go to this would not be a good fit. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | This school was recommended to me because of its reputation. I was not disappointed. |
| Program Quality | 9 | The school prepared me very well for my job. I haven't had many problems that weren't discussed during college. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instruction was fairly good. The material was useful and it was presented well. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I didn't have to work very hard outside of class. There wasn't too much homework. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The majority of the time was spent in classroom settings with traditional teaching. We would learn from books, but we would then have to demonstrate skills. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | There weren't many night classes because it is a small school. Also some classes weren't offered every semester. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The library had many periodicals and books. The computer labs had computers that were fairly new. |
| Social Life | 9 | It was a nice social environment because I liked the feel of a small school. They sponsored many activities and were fun. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I didn't have to use the school's job placement assistance because I was offered a job before graduation. I've heard other students had good luck finding jobs through it. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The alumni network doesn't contact me very often. I have received some letters from them though. |
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