Discover the Reich College of Education
Preparing quality educators is a cornerstone of Appalachian’s past, present and future. When it comes to teacher education, the state and region look FIRST to Appalachian for innovative instruction, faculty excellence and student success.
From Watauga Academy, founded in 1899, to Appalachian State Teachers College, established in 1929, and to the College of Education, established in 1968, Appalachian State University has a long history of preparing quality educators. The Reich College of Education, named for benefactor Lois Reich in 1987, continues this legacy today.
The college enrolls approximately 2,400 students in its bachelor's, master's, education specialist and doctoral degree programs.
Appalachian offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating approximately 500 teachers a year. With so many teacher education graduates working in the state, there is at least one RCOE graduate teaching in every county in North Carolina.
Tour the College of Education
Welcome from Dean Spooner
Students share Why Appalachian
Majors & Minors
Find your major! The Reich College of Education offers five undergraduate majors with numerous concentrations as well as secondary education programs and special subjects with colleges across campus.
- Career and Technical Education
- Agriculture Education
- Business, Finance, and Information Technology Education
- Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Education
- Family and Consumer Sciences Education
- Technology, Engineering and Design Education
- Trade and Industrial Education
- Workforce Leadership and Development
- Child Development (FCS)
- Birth through Kindergarten (licensure)
- Family and Child Studies (non-licensure)
- Elementary Education (K-6)
- Middle Grades Education (6-9)
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- Secondary Education (9-12, College of Arts and Sciences)
- Special Education (K-12)
- Adapted Curriculum
- General Curriculum
- Special Subjects (K-12)
- Art (College of Fine and Applied Art)
- Health and Physical Education (College of Health Sciences)
- Languages, Literatures and Cultures - French Education (College of Arts and Sciences)
- Languages, Literatures and Cultures - Spanish Education (College of Arts and Sciences)
- Music (Hayes School of Music)
- Theatre (College of Fine and Applied Arts)
Departments
The Reich College of Education is organized into five departments, with each department housing several undergraduate and graduate programs.
Curriculum and Instruction
Dedicated to developing and implementing transformational educational experiences that help students critically question and deconstruct the complex intersections of environmental, cultural, historical, and political factors that influence and affect teaching and learning.
Family and Child Studies
Creates a community of engagement around the capacity for learning and competence of children. By exploring how children develop and learn in context, we prepare professionals who work with children and families across a variety of settings.
Human Development and Psychological Counseling
Responsible for organizing and providing instructional programs in counseling and other human development functions for public schools, colleges/universities, and various agencies.
Leadership and Educational Studies
Prepares students to assume educational leadership roles in community colleges, universities, public schools, public libraries and related educational settings through active scholarship, reflection, professional discourse and interdisciplinary programs of study based on the integration of theory and practice.
Reading Education and Special Education
Offers innovative programs focusing on all facets of reading, writing, language arts and specific areas of special education.
Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership
The college also offers a doctorate in educational leadership. The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is not housed in a specific department but draws its faculty from all departments in the College. Four concentrations are available to students.

Poet Snaps, Author Claps, and Comic Zaps
Every great story has an origin. For the Reich College of Education’s (RCOE) Anderson Reading Clinic’s Literacy-Casts, it began when Dr. Devery Ward, an associate professor in the RCOE’s Department of Reading Education and Special Education (RESE) and director of the Anderson Reading Clinic, had the idea to create an online space to continue engaging students in literacy instruction.

App State named No. 1 nationally for certified teachers
Appalachian State University has been recognized — for the fifth consecutive year — as the national leader for the number of Reich College of Education (RCOE) alumni who are National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT). The university topped the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ 2020 list of “Top 50 Alma Maters by Total Number of NBCTs,” with 2,178 alumni having earned the national credential to date.

2019–20 Student Teacher of the Year and finalists
Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education (RCOE) has named alumnus Brandon Moore ’20 as the 2019–20 Student Teacher of the Year award winner. Moore, who is from Kannapolis, graduated May 16, during Appalachian’s first virtual commencement, with a Bachelor of Science in English, secondary education. Additionally, the college named six award finalists for the 2019–20 academic year.
Alumni Updates
- Career and Technical Education - Amy White
- Elementary Education - Stephanie Gelbert
- History, Secondary Education - Nick Buckwell
- Mathematics, Secondary Education - Sharon Sterken
- Middle Grades - Justin Chandler
- Music Education - Walker Ballard
- Science Education - Nina Johnson
- Special Education - Amanda Worley
Contact
If you have any questions about the Reich College of Education or Teacher Education at App State, please email Octavia Little at littleos@appstate.edu
You may also send questions to Education Peer Ambassadors, current teacher education students and leaders in the Reich College of Education.

Spring 2021 Virtual Open House - Office of Admissions
Join the Office of Admissions for an informative day designed for high school students and prospective transfer students. Meet our faculty, tour campus, and learn more about majors and programs, scholarships, financial aid, the admissions process and what it's like to be a member of the Appalachian Community.
Accessibility Statement
For a disability accommodation, visit odr.appstate.edu.