What is Extension Education?

Master of Extension On Campus or Master of Extension Online

Extension agents are a vital link between the communities they serve and the resources offered by land-grant universities. This master’s degree in extension education prepares you with skills and knowledge to develop impactful programs and deliver educational resources in your role as community educator. You will learn to:

• Analyze the principles that guide extension work.
• Develop programs and community outreach initiatives.
• Customize instructional methods for various audiences.
• Develop evaluation strategies for programming.
• Gather, analyze, and communicate community-based research to various populations.

The field of extension education focuses on “extending” university knowledge and resources to communities throughout the state. Extension offices serve as a community-based education hub where extension educators learn about their local community needs and help develop education programs to address them. Common initiatives focus on:

• Nutrition
• Food systems education
• Family consumer sciences
• Agriculture
• Horticulture
• Youth development
• Volunteer development
• Economics
• Natural resource management

Extension educators work with a range of populations, including youth, adults, diverse communities, and various industries. They coordinate and mobilize efforts to address challenging situations by conducting fieldwork, providing workshops and trainings, and creating online informational resources.

A degree for Extension Agents and Community Educators

Designed for working professionals, the online Master of Extension Education program does not require a thesis, and all coursework is offered online. Interact and network with others across the country who are in extension or similar agencies, so you can collaborate and gain insights from peers.

The program pairs you with an advisor to help design a plan of study that emphasizes direct career applicability. Customize the curriculum to suit your specific professional goals and interests, while gaining a broad, interdisciplinary education that combines theory and practice.

Enrich your career in Extension and Community Outreach

Extension practitioners throughout the world often work for government agencies. In the United States, many extension agents (sometimes called county agents, or extension educators) work at land-grant universities in cooperative extension service programs.

If you work in a nonprofit, government, or extension organization, this degree can advance your education career in a variety of fields, including:

• Agricultural extension
• Community development
• Environmental education
• Human development
• Natural resources
• Range science

With an interdisciplinary curriculum tailored to suit your specific career goals, this program helps you gain skills to improve the quality of lives and livelihoods of individuals and communities — whether you work within the field of extension education or in other professions requiring community education and public contact.

The Master of Extension Education is a 36-credit program that requires:

• 18 credits of core coursework.
• 9 credits of AGED, EDAE, HDFS, JTC or SOWK at the 500 level or above.
• 9 credits of disciplinary coursework at the 500 level or above. Disciplines must be approved by an academic advisor, and may include areas such as youth development, horticulture, agriculture, animal science, and others.
• An extension education internship in a county or state extension office or other advisor-approved setting. An internship requires 45 hours of work per credit.

There is no thesis required for completion of this degree. You will work with your graduate advisor to choose your coursework. Additionally:

• 24 credits must be earned at Colorado State University, 21 of which must be earned after formal admission.
• 16 credits of graduate-level electives are chosen with your graduate advisor.
• No independent study, research, supervised college teaching, or practicum credits may apply toward the degree.

Courses that are prerequisites or supplementary to the graduate program do not apply to the minimum credit hours required for this degree. In addition, approved courses from other institutions may be accepted; talk with your advisor before including these in your course plan. Additional coursework may be required depending on your background and preparation for graduate level work.