Arcadia University Courses & Fees

The B.A. and B.S. in Accounting degrees provide detailed insight into accounting principles, theory and specialties such as tax, cost and auditing. Students are prepared for positions in business, government, and other organizations. The degrees provide all the courses required for students to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination in Pennsylvania and some other states, as well as the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) examination.

In order to sit for the CPA examination in Pennsylvania, students must hold a bachelor’s degree with at least 24 credits in accounting-related courses. CPA candidates in Pennsylvania are permitted to sit for the CPA exam with less than 150 credit hours, but will be required to complete all 150 credit hours and satisfy the work experience requirement prior to CPA licensure.

Arcadia's Early Entry Master's Program enables students to complete their undergraduate and graduate work in just five years.  It provides an accelerated pathway for students to begin master's coursework while finishing their undergraduate degree, saving valuable money and time.

Arcadia students in any major may apply and become provisionally accepted in their junior year to the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Early Entry Master’s Program before completing their Bachelor's degree. Students may take up to three graduate ABA courses during their senior year. Students who meet the admission requirements are assured admission into the ABA Early Entry Master's Program at the start of their senior year.

Our curriculum is unique in that it covers a variety of specialties, unlike other graduate programs that require a commitment to a single field of study, making for more wellrounded forensic practitioners. The curriculum involves classroom and laboratory exposure to the field of criminalistics including forensic biology, chemistry and trace analysis as well as forensic toxicology. Coursework emphasizing the development of problemsolving abilities is designed to encourage a concentration in these forensic science specialty areas and expose students to both relevant laboratory techniques and relevant medico-legal developments. 

This program enables teachers, administrators, and other formal and non-formal educators at all grade levels to enact meaningful mathematics teaching and learning in all possible learning environments. Interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches are used to support rich mathematical investigations and to implement challenging curricular structures that exceed state and local standards and objectives.

The program is suitable for elementary, middle and high school teachers and administrators who want to specialize in mathematics education, those who work in educational agencies and curriculum development, community college instructors, and others who are interested in the best mathematics education practices for all students.

Modular Master’s in Education degree program focuses on educational processes in either general education or specialized areas. The foundations courses provide knowledge basic to all aspects of education. The culminating project provides an opportunity for the student to demonstrate their expertise on a particular topic and apply their learning across the courses in their program towards real-world issues and problems.

In consultation with a faculty member, students design a Modular Master program that fits their individual needs by combining two  Certificate modules , along with  two foundations courses and a culminating experience, For example, a student interested in the education of inner-city children whose first language is not English might choose to combine certificate modules in ESL and Urban Education for a Modular Master’s Degree.

The program is designed to allow students seeking a master’s degree to earn a certification in art (K–12) or to pursue advanced, post-certification studies. The degree is not required for certification, and certification requirements may vary based on academic experience. Participation in Arcadia’s unique Saturday STEAM program is a special feature of our program. See Certification Requirements.

The degree program must be planned with an adviser to ensure that degree and/or certification requirements are satisfied. Students enrolled in the M.Ed. program should consult with both an adviser in the Art program as well as an adviser in the School of Education.

The Graduate Program in Counseling (GPC) offers a Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) for 48 or 60 credits. The 48-credit MAC satisfies the current Pennsylvania course and credit requirement to sit for the National Counselor’s Examination. The 60-credit MAC satisfies the current Pennsylvania course and credit requirement to sit for the National Counselor’s Examination and to apply for licensure in Pennsylvania (and other states with equivalent requirements) after passing the NCE and accumulating 3,000 hours of supervised work experience.

Trauma affects millions of people worldwide each year. Individuals affected by natural disasters, war, ethnic conflict, and gender-based violence can suffer long-lasting psychological symptoms that cause significant personal distress and interfere with optimal functioning. Despite this, trauma survivors’ psychological needs frequently go untreated.

The combination of two master’s programs at Arcadia, Counseling with the Trauma Concentration and International Peace and Conflict Resolution, gives students a unique multidisciplinary program not found elsewhere. Students with training in both trauma-specific counseling and international peace and conflict resolution will be well-positioned to plan and implement programs that facilitate psychological recovery from violence and natural disasters, both domestically and abroad.

This program is for students with specific interests in trauma recovery at an international scale, as well as for students interested in serving the increasing number of refugees and asylum seekers within the United States. In order to do relief work abroad, agencies increasingly require professional credentials, this program fulfills the requirements to become a Licensed Professional Counselor in Pennsylvania.

Arcadia University’s low-residency M.F.A. program in Creative Writing, the only one of its kind in the Philadelphia area, is distinctive in that it incorporates both a dynamic online environment and a study abroad experience. The course emphasizes online workshops; personal attention from faculty; studying abroad, with a residency in Edinburgh, Scotland; and the preparation of both a book-length manuscript and a plan to publish it.

Arcadia’s experienced and award-winning faculty help to prepare each student for a career in writing and in teaching the craft at the secondary or collegiate level. 

We offer programs in fiction and poetry, and each runs for two academic years.

Because this is a low-residency program and students take between six and nine credits each term, each participant is able to develop much of his or her own schedule and maintain a full-time professional life outside school.

Prepare for a career teaching creative writing, literature, and composition at the college level in the dual-degree full-time program in Creative Writing and English at Arcadia University.

Here, you'll earn two degrees—a Master of Fine Arts and a Master of Arts—in just three years. And as a full-time student for the duration of the program, you will be eligible to be a Graduate Assistant (G.A.) for each year you're enrolled in the program. (Full-time status for G.A. eligibility is nine credits each semester.) 

For the first two years, you'll take M.F.A. and M.A. courses concurrently. Once you complete the M.F.A. coursework in your second year, you will focus on the remainder of the required MA courses.

The Educational Leadership graduate programs are designed for individuals seeking to become certified elementary, middle or secondary school principals, supervisors of an individual or comprehensive educational area, school superintendents, or assistant superintendents. In addition, specially designed programs are available for individuals seeking to become middle managers in other education organizations. The degree is not required for certification, and certification requirements may vary based on academic credit.

This program is individualized and planned with advisers to ensure that degree requirements are satisfied. Students enrolled in the program should consult with both an adviser in the English department, as well as an adviser in the School of Education. The concentration courses focus on a discipline other than Education. A minimum of 15 credits of the degree program must be taken in English the remaining credits must be in Education.

The Master of Arts in English affords students the flexibility to tailor their course of study to meet their individual wishes and professional goals. This highly versatile program offers courses in three areas of emphasis—literary studies, cultural studies, and professional and academic writing.  The English MA has a pathway for students to complete the program remotely.  We offer on-line asynchronous courses, on-line synchronous courses, and in-person courses with the opportunity for remote students to attend through Zoom.

The Master’s of Education with a concentration in Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity in Special Education program is designed around five major themes:

• Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy
• Collaboration and CoTeaching
• Evidence-Based and High Leverage Instructional Practices
• Reflective Praxis
• Data-based Decisionmaking

Students in the graduate program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution pursue a Master’s degree that consists of three terms of intensive academic training at our Glenside campus including an internship, and capstone.

Internships are directly related to the academic and professional interests of the student. Internships allow students to develop critical professional skills and contacts and enable students to successfully transition to the professional world upon graduation. Internships may be pursued overseas or nationally during the summer before the third term or locally in the final term.

This program is individualized and planned with advisers to ensure that degree requirements are satisfied. Students enrolled in the program should consult with both an adviser in the History and Political Science department, as well as an adviser in the School of Education. The concentration courses focus on a discipline other than Education. A minimum of 15 credits of the degree program must be taken in History the remaining credits must be in Education.

Arcadia University and its partner institution in France, the American Graduate School in Paris, jointly offer an accelerated Dual Masters program allowing students to earn two Master’s degrees in three years: a Master of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) at Arcadia University, and a Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy (IRD) at the American Graduate School in Paris. Students also have the opportunity to earn a certificate of concentration in the following areas of study, along with their M.A. in International Relations and Diplomacy: African Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, European Studies and Asian Studies, NGO Management. The accelerated dual degree program permits students to earn two Masters Degrees in three years. 

The Master of Education with a concentration in Language Arts is designed to meet a student’s interest and goals in deepening their understanding of literacy studies. This program is recommended for students who are not seeking teaching certification.

The Master of Education with a concentration in Literacy Studies: TESOL and Reading is an integrated program that explores literacy in educational and institutional contexts. The issues of literacy in the K-12 classroom and the relationship of literacy to social mobility and globalization will be explored. This program leads to PA Teacher Certification in Reading Specialist K-12 certification and English as a Second Language  K-12 program specialist certification.