IU v. Syracuse for Education

rrah
Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:55:49 +0000

My answer may not help you decide, but I’ll throw my opinion out there as a former Social Studies teacher. My first suggestion though is that if you eventually want to teach in the state of NY that you find out the requirements for licensing. It could help in your decision. An acquaintance of mine from NY told me she had to get her master’s degree in order to be licensed in NY (I don’t know the full details of that, and it’s just what she said to me.)

Factors to consider. COST! And especially the cost of any loans. You don’t want to end up repaying lots of loans on a teacher’s salary. (been there, done that, not fun)

Rankings-may or may not be important. I can’t find the undergrad rankings, but do know that IU’s secondary education grad program was recently ranked 10th nationwide. Syracuse wasn’t in the top 10. I know from my own experience and that of a family member that the IU name helped both of us get interviews and jobs. My job was in a midwestern state, but my family member’s job was in a southern state. I don’t know how well the name would help in NY, but it’s a consideration.

Look at the overall school and the Social science type departments. Most teachers actually major in a Social Science field, take additional courses in other social science areas, and take the education courses to become licensed. At least that’s how it works in the state of Indiana. IU will not be nearly as familiar with licensing requirements in NY if that’s where you want to end up. Again, in my experience I had to take an additional class to be licensed in another state–I could have taken it at IU if I had known it was a requirement. I really didn’t plan to end up in that other state and should have done so. My family member also had to take a specific state history course in another state also. Some states will automatically accept your license from IN.

Go in knowing that at IU it’s not likely you will do any of your field experiences in NY. All of your student teaching will be done in IN or via one of these options:

[Cultural Immersion Projects](http://education.indiana.edu/Default.aspx?alias=education.indiana.edu/cultural)

Knowing that you will be going to grad school and making a teacher’s salary, my first focus would be on the overall cost, especially the cost of any loans. Good luck in your decision.