At Delta State University, graduate students can choose from 16 different online programs that include limited to no offline work. One option is the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program which features concentrations in nurse administrator, nurse educator, and family nurse practitioner. Ranked as one of the top online nursing graduate degree programs, it helps students build on the knowledge they gained in other nursing programs and the field. The family nurse practitioner track requires that students do fieldwork in either Arkansas or Mississippi.
Delta State University appears in our ranking of the Top 10 Most Affordable Accelerated Master’s in Aerospace/Aviation Online.
A Master of Science (MS) in Social Justice and Criminology is available online too. Incoming students with work with the Dean of the department to create a plan of study. They must agree to follow this plan and maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in both their major courses and the classes they take from other departments. A comprehensive examination is another requirement for this program. It tests solely on the information they covered in their classes. Students can only take this exam three times. Delta State allows students to do a thesis and skip this examination.
Another MS program offered by the university includes a major in Community Development. This program focuses on the services that can help others in need and can prepare students for working in government agencies. Designed by the Division of Social Sciences and History, the program also looks at the history of social welfare programs and how those programs changed over the years. Students have the choice of doing a practicum or a thesis. They also need to pick between the economic development and sustainable development tracks.
Delta State University offers one of the nation’s only graduate programs in commercial aviation, which is available online. The 30 credits of classes that students take focus on aviation management and education. Many professional pilots enroll in the program because they want to work as teachers or managers. This program does not include fieldwork or a thesis and allows majors to graduate in only two years.
Several of the university’s online graduate programs are in education, including the programs in elementary education and secondary education. The secondary education program features a concentration in English and prepares students for working as general English and creative writing teachers. Special education and educational administration are some of the other majors available for education majors. Those students can also apply to the Delta State University Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program.
About Delta State University
Delta State University is a public university named after the Mississippi Delta, which is home to Cleveland and its campus. The State of Mississippi took over the campus of a former agricultural high school in 1924 and used it as the campus for the new Delta State Teachers College. It opened for classes the following year. The college changed its curriculum to reflect the needs of the community and added an aviation training program to train pilots during the early days of World War II. Known as Delta State Teachers College from 1955 on, it became Delta State University in 1974 and adopted the nicknames of Delta State and DSU. The campus is now home to the state’s only commercial aviation program and one of its only flight schools. More than 3,700 students attend Delta State every year, including a few hundred online graduate students.
Delta State University Accreditation Details
With both institutional and program accreditation, Delta State can help students get financial aid and see that their programs will help them in the future. The university has institutional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which is why students can use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at the beginning of October to get financial aid. Some of the program accreditation that DSU has comes from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) among others.
Delta State University Application Requirements
DSU has both application requirements designed by the Graduate School and program requirements that the departments set. The Graduate School requires that incoming students have a bachelor’s degree from a college or university with regional accreditation. On-campus students born after 1957 need to submit their immunization records to show that they have the minimum amount of vaccinations. Some programs require that students have a bachelor’s degree in the same field they want to study or a related field. In the MSN program, students need both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a valid nursing license too.
Each program at Delta State has other requirements that students must meet before they can start. In the MAT program, this includes a statement of purpose or a letter of intent that explains why the student wants to study teaching at DSU and what they expect to get from the program. They’ll also submit an official test score and three letters of recommendation. The MAT program has a separate application that students need to fill out in addition to the Graduate School application. Other programs may require a GPA of 2.5 to 3.0 or higher too.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Graduate students at Delta State pay $417 per credit hour or $3,750.50 per semester. Select programs may charge students fees for the fieldwork they do or when they take special classes. The university’s iMBA program that is available online charges students $481 per credit hour. Grad students also pay a $6.67 per credit hour campus fee and a student activity fee of $2.78 per credit hour for part-time students and $25 for full-time students.
The financial aid available for graduate students includes both loans and grants. They can qualify for government programs that will forgive the loans they get if they work in certain districts later. With federal loans, graduate students can borrow a maximum of $20,500 a year. They can see how much they owe while they’re in school and start making payments to pay down the interest on those loans. The university accepts private loans and PLUS loans too. Those programs help students borrow more than the maximum amount every year. Any student enrolled in or applying to one of the online master’s degree programs at Delta State University can get financial aid.
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