Undergraduate

Special Education

Examine how disability identification can both protect and promote student development while also understanding its historical relationship with social inequities.

2026

Degree

Minor

Location

Durham, NH

Courses

Credit

20 hrs.

Full-time

- -

Part-time

- -

View course catalog

Three female students sitting at their desks listening to a lesson

Apply now Request info Visit campus

Education

The minor in Special Education at UNH offers a comprehensive exploration of inclusive education practices and the complex role of disability in our educational systems. Here you'll be able to examine how disability identification can both protect and promote student development while also understanding its historical relationship with social inequities.

Whether you're planning to pursue a career in teaching, counseling, social work or educational advocacy, this minor provides fundamental knowledge about inclusive practices and educational equity. The program's strong connections with local schools and community agencies offer valuable hands-on experience, and students interested in teaching careers can take advantage of an accelerated pathway to our M.Ed. in Special Education.

Department of Education

Key Links

Tuition Costs

What is special education?

In the special education minor, you will engage in a critical examination of inclusive education and study fundamental issues of values, purposes, and practices within public education systems. In the minor, you will study the dual nature of special education; it is viewed as both a mechanism of protection and stratification within schools. Special education services have been lauded as a mechanism of protection within schools that allocates resources to develop all individuals’ abilities and to ensure their meaningful, full participation in society. Disability identification has also been critiqued as a mechanism for exclusion and inequity, including long-standing intersections in public education with race, language, class, and gender, among others. This minor can be combined with other majors and can provide an accelerated pathway to the Education Department's professional graduate preparation programs, particularly the M.Ed. in special education.

Why study special education at UNH?

We believe that all students, including students identified with a disability, are entitled to a meaningful and full education. Community engagement is central to the mission of the Education Department, and you’ll have an array of opportunities to pursue because of our strong collaborative relationships with schools and community agencies, both regionally and internationally. In addition, the department offers several options for continuing studies in special education through graduate studies. The special education minor is particularly appropriate for undergraduates who may seek admission into the accelerated M.Ed. in special education at UNH.

Potential career areas

Special and general education teaching
Early childhood services
Educational advocacy
Guidance counseling
Home and hospital/clinical education
Post-secondary teaching
Program administration
School board service
Social work

Curriculum & Requirements

Program Description

In the special education minor, you will engage in a critical examination of inclusive education and study fundamental issues of values, purposes, and practices in public education systems. The concept of disability in education has a dual nature. It has been represented as a mechanism of protection within schools that recruits efforts and resources to develop all individuals’ abilities and to ensure their meaningful, full participation in society. Disability identification has also been a mechanism for exclusion and inequity, including long-standing intersections with race, language, class, and gender, among others. This minor can be combined with other majors and can provide an accelerated pathway to the Education Department's professional graduate preparation programs, particularly the M.Ed. in special education.

Requirements for the Program

Academic policies related to Minors.

The Minor in Special Education consists of completing five Education Department courses for a total of twenty (20) credits.
The Minor in Special Education does not lead to a teaching certification.
No more than eight (8) credits used by the student to satisfy major requirements may be used for the minor.
Courses used in obtaining a Minor in Education cannot be used towards the Minor in Special Education.
EDUC 500 can only be counted once for four (4) credits towards the minor, if the placement was with a special educator.
No more than two (2) transferred courses in education or a closely-related area from another college or university may be used towards a Minor in Special Education. A three (3) credit course transferred from another school will count for three (3) credits at UNH.

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses
EDUC 650	Introduction to Disability in Inclusive Schools and Communities	4
EDUC 656	Advocating for Diverse and Inclusive Family-School-Community Partnerships	4
Electives
Select three courses from the following:		12
EDUC 556	Peer to Peer Mentoring for Students with Disabilities ¹
EDUC 739	Assessment and Individualized Educational Planning in Special and Inclusive Education ²
EDUC 740	Advanced Methods for Inclusive Curricular Design and Teaching: Building Access and Agency ²
EDUC 751A	Inclusive Elementary Education: Literacies and Learning for Diverse Learners
EDUC 751B	Methods of Inclusive Secondary Education: Literacies, Learning, and Transitions
EDUC 760	Introduction to Young Children with Special Needs
EDUC 761	Designing Curriculum for Inclusive, Equitable Settings for Young Children (birth-8)
Total Credits		20

¹: EDUC 556 is a two (2) credit course. To reach the total credit requirement for the minor, this course may be repeated for a total of four (4) credits, or an additional elective course will be required.
²: Department permission required.

Explore Program Details

Program Objectives

The Special Education Minor provides students with the opportunity to explore special education as a professional career choice. This minor provides a pathway to the Department of Education's professional graduate preparation program. It will also allow students who wish to gain a greater understanding of the diversity of individuals with disabilities to study their characteristics and needs and the institutional response to assisting those individuals with a disability.

Objectives

To provide an overview of disabilities
To provide an understanding of inclusive community and public school options
To enhance the understanding of diversity within our schools
To provide an understanding of the impact of disabilities on families, schools and communities

Completion of Minor Form

At the beginning of your final semester at UNH, please fill out a completion of minor form and obtain the necessary signatures. The Minor Certification of Completion form can be found on the list of forms on the Registrar's webpage at Forms, For Students. To request a signature from the Special Education Minor Supervisor, please email the form to education.department@unh.edu.

More to Explore

Careers

Research

Scholarships & Financial Aid

Study Abroad

Special Education, Minor - COLA, UNH