Most Affordable Online Master's In Science Education

If you're thinking about earning an online master's degree in science education, this article is the perfect place to start. Consider this ranking the starting line for your journey to an accredited, quality, affordable online degree. In fact, using this article as a resource to choose the best school for your needs might even help you get to that finish line faster!

Featured Online Programs

Figuring out where to apply? These top, accredited schools offer a variety of online degrees. Consider one of these accredited programs, and discover their value today.

Many middle and high school teachers enter the workforce after their bachelor's degree, relying on a specific subject major for their success. For example, young science and math teachers may have earned a B.S. in Mathematics, Physics, Biology, or the like, but that doesn't mean they understand learning theories or best instructional practices. By continuing your education through a graduate program, you can augment your subject-specific expertise with a broader understanding of teaching methods. You might even find yourself in a position to earn advanced positions in schools, acquire an administrative job, or even switch to a career at a community college.

Note: This article may contain sponsored links intended to help you connect with programs easily.

The 30 Best Online Master's Degrees in Science Education Ranking Methodology

Selection Criteria

For this ranking, we focused on public and private (non-profit) colleges and universities that offer online science education graduate programs. Because the focus of this list is on affordability, we only considered programs with average* tuition rates of $25,000/year or less.

*For public schools, we calculated the average value of their in-state and out-of-state rates.

Ranking Factors

After compiling a list of all the colleges that offer online master's degrees in STEM education and meet the above criteria, we then collected data in four categories:

Accreditation: Does the program have curricular approval from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)?
Science Focus: What percentage of the curriculum focuses specifically on science and/or science education topics as opposed to general teaching concepts? The greater this percentage, the greater likelihood that the program will grant students the specialized skills they need to be successful STEM educators.
Overall Strength in Education and Science: How many different education- and science-related master's degrees does the school offer? And what percentage of the entire graduate student body is enrolled in one of these programs?
Affordability: What is the average annual cost of attendance?

After collecting and sorting all the information, we ranked the candidates according to their performance in each area. Finally, we summed up the results and gave each school a final score using a curve so that the top-scoring program earned an even 100 points.

Read more about the best cheap online master's degrees in STEM education below!