About Bagwell College of Education

Kennesaw State University (KSU) is the school of choice for those who aspire to become birth through 12th grade (B-12) professional educators, leaders and administrators, or higher education faculty and administrators. As one of the top preparers of teachers in Georgia, our excellent faculty, staff, students, and alumni continue to contribute to the strong reputation of KSU’s Bagwell College of Education.

At a Glance

• A leading preparer of teachers in the state of Georgia
• Offered KSU’s first doctoral program in 2006 and have remained the largest preparer of graduate students across the 12 KSU colleges
• Offered KSU’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
• A $20.3 million facility addition opened in the spring of 2015 to accommodate our growth
• Recipient of the Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement Award from the National Association of Professional Development Schools
• Recipient of the largest grant ever awarded to KSU, an $8.9 million Teacher Quality Partnership Grant that prepared pre-service teachers to work in multicultural urban K-12 school settings
• First college in the state to offer a master’s degree (M.Ed.) in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• Member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED)
• Only college of education to offer doctoral program in Teacher Leadership.
• Home to the School of Instructional Technology and Innovation, formerly the Department of Instructional Technology
• A Call Me Mister® program campus
• First college in the U.S. to have an Interactive Research Methods Lab (IRML) that uses the Hopscotch Model and artificial intelligence to guide students through the nine steps of designing and performing relevant research.

Our History 

Our college is relatively young, having been established initially as a division in 1978. Today, the Bagwell College offers 42 degrees From Bachelor to the Education Doctorate and 19 endorsement, certification only, or certificate programs.

When benefactors Clarice C. and Leland H. Bagwell, longtime educators and active supporters of Kennesaw State University, made a generous gift to the university, the college of education was named for them to recognize their respect for teacher education. Clarice Bagwell was a teacher and esteemed community leader who served as a trustee of the KSU Foundation. Leland Bagwell was a chemist, teacher, and entrepreneur who is remembered for his integrity as a teacher and as a respected business leader.

The Bagwell’s son, Tommy, and his wife, Chantal, continue to support KSU through scholarships, an Endowed Dean’s Chair of Education, and the naming of the Chantal and Tommy Bagwell Education Building. In addition to their generous support of the Bagwell College, they funded the Bagwell Center for the Study of Markets and Economic Opportunity and the Education Economics Center in KSU’s Coles College of Business.

The faculty and staff of the Bagwell College are grateful for the legacy of giving that the Bagwell family has bestowed upon KSU. The meaningful impact they continue to have on our students, faculty and staff is beyond measure.

Our Organization

Teacher education at KSU is a campus-wide effort as reflected through the Educator Preparation Provider (EPP) community that is led by the Dean of Bagwell College. Since its inception in 1994, our programs have been developed and delivered in a collaborative manner. Faculty in the Bagwell College and teacher educators located in three other KSU colleges representing six departments collaborate to offer an extensive array of distinctive programs to prepare individuals to work effectively in 21st century educational environments. The EPP also organizes and sponsors collaborative faculty development programs related to teacher and leader education and current issues relating to innovative teaching and learning. In addition to the colleges that are formal members of the EPP, several other KSU colleges are partnering with Bagwell College faculty to write and administer grants and co-author publications in peer reviewed journals. Preparing effective professional educators is a primary mission of Kennesaw State University.

Our Future

To accommodate our rapid growth, a four-story addition to our facility opened in the spring of 2015. The Chantal and Tommy Bagwell Education Building addition houses 12 general classrooms, two computer labs, eight model classrooms, two large student study areas, four student study rooms, three academic departments, the dean’s office, the Academy for Language and Literacy, conference rooms, the Avatar Lab, the Innovation Lab, the Interactive Research Methods Lab, the Universal Design Lab, and the Teacher Resource and Activity Corner (TRAC).

Act Now!

Please join us as we prepare new teachers, experienced professionals, and educational leaders to use the latest technologies, strategies and methods to inspire all Birth-12th grade students to achieve at their maximum potential. A wide array of online, hybrid, and face-to-face classes are offered to meet your scheduling needs. As you navigate our website, remember that we are just a click or a phone call away, and we are eager to assist you.