Office of
Graduate Studies

GRADUATE
STUDIES

Strengthen your academic and
professional ability

Make significant contributions to your community

WCSU’s fully accredited graduate programs offer advanced study under the direction of dedicated educators.

Master’s
Degree

Addiction Studies

Applied Behavior Analysis
(Online Degree)

Biology: Integrative Biological Diversity

Business Administration

Counselor Education 

Options:

Clinical Mental Health

Counseling (Online Degree)  

School Counseling

Health Administration
(Online Degree)

History

Homeland Security
(Online Degree)

Human Nutrition
(Hybrid Degree)

Literacy and Language Arts
(Online Degree)

Mathematics 

Music Education

Nursing

Adult-Gerontology Clinical Specialist                     

Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner                     

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Special Education (K-12)
(Online Degree)

Teaching Secondary Education 

(Biology, Chemistry, English, Mathematics, Social Studies, or Spanish)

Master of
Fine Arts

Visual Arts

(Painting, Illustration, or Interdisciplinary)

Creative & Professional Writing

Flexible Graduate Education

Your high-quality, flexible and convenient education

Our graduate students benefit from flexible, convenient—and often completely online—courses taught by faculty whose commitment to teaching, to research and to other professional activities results in national recognition. Faculty guidance strengthens students’ academic and professional ability by increasing your subject knowledge, improving your capacity for independent study, familiarizing you with the research in your field and training you to conduct meaningful research of your own.

Service to Community

Your service to the community

Our programs also make significant contributions to our communities. Students, as a result of their intense, concentrated study at WCSU, are well-prepared to enter society as trained professionals and specialists, and as thoughtful, sensitive human beings with personal integrity and an appreciation of intellectual and political freedom.

Professional Skill Development

Your professional skills development

Our students develop in professional in-service and pre-service programs through cooperative efforts with regional businesses, industry, government, social service and educational agencies. WCSU’s faculty and programs are dedicated to forging and maintaining such ties through the ongoing assessment of regional needs and continual interaction with community, business, professional and academic organizations.

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate Assistantships provide on-campus, extracurricular, hands-on learning experiences and stipends to graduate students.

Assistantships are not scholarships (which are awarded independently of any expectation of corresponding activity), and they are not work/study appointments (which provide hourly wages for usually non-educational work).

  • Eligibility & Requirements
  • Requirements to be Met

    Graduate Assistant positions are available to well-qualified, matriculated GRADUATE STUDENTS in institutional activities that are academically relevant to the student’s program of study.
    Requirements to be met for these positions are:

    • Graduate student matriculated in a Graduate program
    • GPA of 3.00 or higher
    • Graduate student registered in the current semester
    • Graduate Assistants may not be employed by any other employment category of the university.

  • Stipends & Waived Fees
  • Stipends awarded to Graduate Assistants range from $1200 to $4800 and should not exceed 20 hours of work per week.

    In addition to a stipend award, full-time graduate students (enrolled in nine credits or more per semester) have the following fees waived:

    • State University Fee
    • University General Fee except for that portion attributable to student accident insurance
    • Student Activity Fee
  • Applying for an Assistantship
  • If you are interested in applying for a Graduate Assistantship at WCSU, you may speak to your Graduate Program Coordinator who can direct you to the faculty who supervise our Graduate Assistants.

    Graduate students need to complete the form below and submit it to the Graduate Program Coordinator or the faculty member supervising the position for which they are applying.

    Graduate Assistant Application (Fillable PDF)

  • Faculty & Staff
  • Faculty and staff hiring a graduate assistant need to submit the Graduate Assistant Hire form below along with the completed Graduate Assistant Application to Jennifer Cunningham in the office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at cunninghamj@wcsu.educreate new email.

    Graduate Assistant Appointment Form (Fillable PDF)

Requirements to be Met

Graduate Assistant positions are available to well-qualified, matriculated GRADUATE STUDENTS in institutional activities that are academically relevant to the student’s program of study.
Requirements to be met for these positions are:

  • Graduate student matriculated in a Graduate program
  • GPA of 3.00 or higher
  • Graduate student registered in the current semester
  • Graduate Assistants may not be employed by any other employment category of the university.

Stipends awarded to Graduate Assistants range from $1200 to $4800 and should not exceed 20 hours of work per week.

In addition to a stipend award, full-time graduate students (enrolled in nine credits or more per semester) have the following fees waived:

  • State University Fee
  • University General Fee except for that portion attributable to student accident insurance
  • Student Activity Fee

If you are interested in applying for a Graduate Assistantship at WCSU, you may speak to your Graduate Program Coordinator who can direct you to the faculty who supervise our Graduate Assistants.

Graduate students need to complete the form below and submit it to the Graduate Program Coordinator or the faculty member supervising the position for which they are applying.

Graduate Assistant Application (Fillable PDF)

Faculty and staff hiring a graduate assistant need to submit the Graduate Assistant Hire form below along with the completed Graduate Assistant Application to Jennifer Cunningham in the office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at cunninghamj@wcsu.educreate new email.

Graduate Assistant Appointment Form (Fillable PDF)

Accreditations

Western Connecticut State University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Inquiries regarding the accreditation status by the New England Commission should be directed to the administrative staff of the institution. Individuals may also contact the New England Commission of Higher Education, 3 Burlington Woods Drives, Suite 100, Burlington, MA 01803-4531; (781) 425-7785; info@neche.orgcreate new email. In addition, the university is accredited by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.

WCSU

Dr. Christopher A. Shankle

Director

(203) 837-9005

WCSU

Mary Champion

SECRETARY

(203) 837-8243

Office of
Graduate Admissions

181 White St, Old Main 101
Danbury, CT 06810
  • (203) 837-8243

  • (203) 837-8326