Assumption University reduces graduate school costs for future educators, effective this fall

WORCESTER — Due to a critical shortage of special educators nationwide, Assumption University will reduce tuition costs for master's degree students in special education and school counseling, beginning this fall.

The goal is to make credentials in these areas more accessible, which in turn would push more students into these positions that are in high demand. According to the National Center for Education Statistics survey, 59% of schools nationwide have reported insufficient mental health professional staff coverage. Most schools say the COVID-19 pandemic had lingering negative effects on students' "socioemotional development."

"There are more open positions out there (in the special education and counseling fields) than there are qualified candidates," Kim Schandel, dean of the school of graduate studies at Assumption, said. "We see the need."

Schandel said Assumption has a history of providing these types of programs and knows the key issues students face when choosing a graduate program: cost, flexibility and reputation.

"There were only a few colleges and universities in the state that have that reputation, so we knew we had to address cost," Schandel said. "This is part of the university's strategic plan to make education at Assumption more affordable and accessible."

The special education program is a blended program with some classes online and some offered on campus. The school counseling program is fully online but still encourages collaborative work.

Alex Fioretti, a student in Assumption's school counseling program, said the need for school adjustment counselors is evident. Fioretti mostly works with younger children.

"Whether it's because of COVID or just the lack of preschool availability, (the kids) are not getting it," Fioretti said. "If you take a kid, put them in a room of 20 other kids with two teachers, some of them have never been with more than one or two other people in a room. We're expecting them to do so much without those basic social skills."

Fioretti explained that when he was a child, he never had to "fight for attention" like kids today do.

"The pressure today is definitely there, and that's no fault of the teachers," Fioretti said. "They have to deal with trying to get these kids to do all these academics and they're also expected to teach them these social skills. That's so much on the teacher's plate and then so much on the kid's plate."

Fioretti said much of what he's learned at Assumption the past two years has prepared him for the field. How to deal with children's trauma, kids who have different backgrounds and issues like a parents' divorce have prepared him for what's to come.

"We all want to go into this position because we want to help kids that are struggling and have gone through this trauma," Fioretti said. "We want to help lead them to solutions, even if we have the answer to their problem in our head. We just kind of facilitate, guide them and help to scaffold these ideas to help them internalize all of it and adjust and regulate with it."

Fioretti will see a decrease in his tuition this fall. He has accepted a position as a kindergarten school adjustment counselor at Gardner Elementary School.

"It's exciting that the school is reducing tuition rates. These positions (school counselors and special education), they're jobs that require a master's," Fioretti said. "These reductions in tuition takes the pressure off young professionals who need to get their master's."