Alabama State University was founded in 1867 to provide education for African Americans.  The university has a heavy historic emphasis on preparing teachers.  In 1873, as the Lincoln Normal School, the institution was recognized as a state-supported institution for the education of African American ". . . teachers and students."   

The institution matured and gained the status of  a four-year in 1928. The first baccalaureate degrees were conferred in 1931.  The graduate program in education was authorized in 1940, and the first master's degrees were conferred in 1943.  The college was an early member of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher  Education(NCATE) and remains accredited by that body.

Throughout the history of Alabama State University's existence, the program of education has played a predominant role.  Currently, the college is responsible for fifty-three percent of the degree production on campus.  Over eighty percent of graduate study at the university is through the college of education.  The college also carries the distinction of producing the largest number of African American teachers in the nation.

      The college is divided into four departments:

• Curriculum and Instruction, that houses Secondary Education, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Reading, and Special Education;

• Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, that houses Health Education, Physical Education, and Recreational Therapy

• Instructional Support Programs, that houses Counselor Education, General Counseling, Library Education Media, Administration; and Educational Leadership, Policy and Law.

• Foundations and Psychology, that houses Business Education, Foundations of Education, and Psychology.

The college also houses the Alabama Regional In-service Program, a Technology in Motion project, and has a strong presence with the Reading Initiative.  The college also has administrative oversight of the Zelia Stephens Early Childhood Center.

I invite you to join with us, whether you are just beginning and pursuing an undergraduate degree, or are interested in an advanced degree.  You will find Alabama State University's College of Education a place where you will be challenged, supported, mentored, and provided with the necessary tools to have an impact on the lives of children for the new millennium.

Our college is centered around a conceptual framework that emphasizes educators as decision makers.  From that framework the faculty has developed a model that graphically represents the experience in the college.  We believe that through a focus on the model our graduates will be teachers with a strong emphasis on decision making, change agency, life-long commitment to learning, with a constructivist philosophy.  Our goal is to provide our society with resilient teachers capable of identifying and addressing critical areas of need.