Sweet Briar College, the liberal arts educational institution for women in Virginia, has announced that it will now offer a new bachelor’s degree program in elementary education. Since 2004, the college has offered a five-year master’s degree in teaching degree. But new legislation will allow students who have four-year degrees in teacher education to become teachers in the state’s public schools.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam explained the reason for the new legislation by noting that “we must remain focused on meeting the growing needs of our public education system to prepare the Commonwealth’s students for success and secure Virginia’s economic future. As we work to strengthen Virginia’s educator pipeline, I am pleased to see the approval of these comprehensive changes that will create new pathways to the classroom and help increase both the supply and the diversity of quality teachers in the Commonwealth.”
Meredith McCool, director of Sweet Briar College’s education program, stated that “this new major will allow future elementary teachers to engage in coursework across the college, while at the same time honing their practice in local schools. And at the end of four or five years, they will graduate with a diploma that clearly states their passion: elementary education.”