Exercise and Sport Science Comprehensive Major: K-12 Physical Education Emphasis (with a 3+2 Master of Arts)

The 3+2 Secondary and K-12 Licensure Program allows students to complete a B.A. in their academic major with an emphasis in Secondary and K-12 Licensure and a Master of Arts in Education in five years. Students apply to the program by December of their junior year. MUS majors interested in the program need to set up an individualized plan with their MUS and EDUC advisors.  To be accepted into the 3+2 Program, each student must: 

• Provide letters of recommendation from at least one Education Department faculty member and one faculty member from the student's major
• Prove content, as defined by the Colorado Department of Education
• Be accepted into Western's Teacher Licensure Program
• Successfully complete EDUC 340 (by Spring of junior year)
• Be on track to complete all coursework required within the academic major

Upon satisfactory completion of these requirements, students will be designated as "MAED candidates with provisional acceptance." Upon completion of the final undergraduate credits for the Western B.A., students will be designated as "MAED degree-seeking students." Students who have completed all other requirements of the 3+2 Secondary and K-12 Licensure Degree Program and all Western undergraduate requirements, yet choose to leave the MAED program before Year Five, will still have completed the BA in Secondary and K-12 Licensure, have earned 120 credits necessary for a Western undergraduate degree, and be eligible to apply for initial teacher licensure . 

Program Requirements

Students interested in pursuing this comprehensive program should consult with the Teacher Education Program advisor in addition to the advisor in their major as soon as possible. Students seeking Colorado licensure must fulfill the requirements for K-12 Physical Education Licensure (see description under Education).

To graduate, all exercise and sport science majors must complete ESS 181 Foundations of Exercise and Sport Science and ESS 185 Lifetime Wellness with a minimum grade of “C-”:

 In addition, the student must fulfill the requirements of the K-12 Licensure 3+2 Program (see description under Education), and the following:

Capstone Course Requirement

The following course in the Exercise and Sport Science Major fulfills the capstone course requirement: ESS 495 Senior Seminar in Exercise and Sport Science and ESS 498 Internship in Exercise and Sport Science. Students completing the K-12 Physical Education Emphasis (Licensure Track) or (with a 3+2 Master of Arts) may use EDUC 410 K-12 Student Teaching or EDUC 610 K-12 Student Teaching (respectively) to fulfill this requirement.

Western Watershed General Education Requirements

Students must complete all Western Watershed General Education requirements to graduate. 

Graduation Requirements

Undergraduate programs require a minimum of 120 semester credits for graduation.  Of those 120 credits, 40 credits must be in upper-division courses (those marked 300 and above).  Fifteen of these 40 upper-division credits must be earned in courses that are part of the standard or comprehensive major program being pursued. 

Students are expected to review all graduation requirements, which can be found in the Western Undergraduate Catalog: Graduation Requirements. 

"C-" or better required for both ESS 181 Foundations of Exercise and Sport Science and ESS 185 Lifetime Wellness to receive credit toward ESS degree.   

Students must achieve a “C-“ or better in GE AREA I Essential Skills courses, including ENG 102 Writing and Rhetoric I (GT-CO1) & ENG 103 Writing and Rhetoric II (GT-CO2).

Sample Plan