Coordinator: Freddie Vaughns

Bowie State University is the first University in Maryland, the nation, and the Metropolitan Area of Washington, DC, to offer a degree in pedology. Pedology is the scientific study of the life, development, and socialization of children and adolescents. The bachelor’s degree in pedology is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that prepares the student for a wide range of employment opportunities in institutions and agencies serving children and adolescents, such as: juvenile correctional institutions, Head Start administration and programs, counseling centers, children’s hospitals and hospices, daycare centers, schools, social welfare agencies, adoption agencies, youth centers, clinical settings, street outreach, transitional living entrepreneurship, and more.

Majors are required to earn at least a “C” in all pedology courses in their major program. Seniors also are required to perform a year of field placement. After completing ENGL 101 and ENGL 102, Composition and Literature I and II, students must take and successfully pass the Bowie State University English Proficiency Examination. Transfer students who complete their english composition requirements must take the English Proficiency Examination during the first semester of enrollment at the University. Exceptions to, or substitutions for, the following major requirements are considered only through a formal process of departmental recommendations. To receive a degree in pedology, the student must complete 120 hours.

The pedology program provides:

1. Small classes
2. Integration of learning to experience
3. Day, evening, and summer classes
4. Courses to enhance parenting and professional skills
5. Counseling and training services for students and incarcerated mothers, and welfare to working mothers and others
6. Cultural pedagogical models
7. Cultural coping strategies
8. Indigenous storytelling

Sample Program