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As an increasing number of educators leave the profession and fewer candidates enter the pipeline, the future of education depends on bold, practical solutions. ACE creates a sustainable path to address the teacher shortage by forming partnerships with schools and flexible, high-quality and affordable online certificate, master’s and doctoral degree programs.
INDIANAPOLIS, May 1, 2025 (Newswire.com)
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The national teacher shortage continues to challenge U.S. public schools: Nearly three-quarters of K-12 schools reported difficulties filling positions with certified teachers this fall, as teachers leave the profession in increasing numbers. American College of Education (ACE) helps solve teacher shortages by partnering with school districts to create affordable degree programs that provide teachers with a pathway to career advancement, keeping them in the classroom and administration. These attainable career pathways also help to attract more teachers into the field.
ACE, founded in 2005, is a national innovator in providing quality, affordable and accredited online graduate degrees. ACE is the third-highest conferrer of education master’s degrees in the United States1. ACE maintains low tuition which enables nearly nine out of 10 students to graduate debt-free2.
“Every student deserves access to high-quality teachers, and every educator should have access to affordable, career-driven programming that provides a meaningful return on their investment,” said ACE President and CEO Geordie Hyland. “At ACE, we are committed to working with our partners to break down financial barriers and create practical, flexible pathways for educators to advance and thrive in their profession.”
Studies show that U.S. public schools desperately need more teachers. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 74% of the country’s K-12 public schools said they had difficulty filling one or more vacant teaching positions with a fully certified teacher before the start of the school year. Teachers say that shortages create larger class sizes, which in turn contributes to teacher burnout that prompts many to leave – exacerbating the teacher shortage problem.
A 2022 poll by the National Education Association found 67% of teachers said burnout was a serious problem, and that 55% planned to leave the profession due to stress from the pandemic and other causes. Citing federal data, the Wall Street Journal reported that 300,000 public school teachers and staff left the field between February 2020 and May 2022. And even after the pandemic receded, the teacher exodus continued: A RAND Corporation study in 2023 found that 23% of teachers planned to leave the field at the end of the school year.
ACE counters those trends by offering affordable degree programs designed to help teachers advance to more satisfying and highly compensated positions, providing an incentive for them to remain in the profession. This, in turn, helps school districts strengthen their teacher pipeline and reduce burnout.
ACE offers 25 master’s degrees in education, including master’s degrees in traditional fields like early child education, elementary education, literacy, and science education, and specialized areas such as educational leadership, educational business administration, instructional coaching and teacher leadership, and instructional design and educational technology. ACE also offers six doctoral degrees in education and a multitude of certificates, such as Transition-to-Teaching Licensure and Principal Preparation, as well as bachelor’s completion degree programs for aspiring educators.
ACE ensures that cost is never a barrier for educators, by eliminating unnecessary expenses and focusing on high-quality, career-driven coursework. ACE’s faculty have real-world experience and the school’s curriculum is designed specifically for online education. ACE’s courses are continuously reviewed and revised for relevance and effectiveness.
At its founding in 2005, ACE made the decision to forego federal funding to help keep costs and tuition low. In 2024, ACE marked its eighth consecutive year with no increase in tuition charges. The low costs translate into positive student outcomes: 86% of students graduate with no debt2, and ACE graduates receive $19.20 in future career earnings for every $1 spent on tuition.3
ACE further reduces costs to students by partnering with districts by creating additional tuition discounts, credit for prior learning and direct billing arrangements which create shorter, more cost-effective paths to degree completion. More than 2,500 institutions nationwide collaborate with ACE to upskill their employees into positions of greater responsibility and value to their organizations.
As the United States continues to face challenges in education, ACE remains dedicated to being part of the solution with programs that bring teachers into the field and provide powerful incentives to stay in the profession, strengthening the future of K-12 education for generations to come.
For more information, please visit ace.edu.
About American College of Education
American College of Education (ACE) is an accredited, fully online college specializing in high-quality, affordable programs in education, business, leadership, healthcare and nursing. Headquartered in Indianapolis, ACE offers more than 60 innovative and engaging programs for adult students to pursue a doctorate, specialist, master’s or bachelor’s degree, along with graduate-level certificate programs. In addition to being a leader in online education, ACE is a Certified B Corporation and part of a global movement to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
1 Source: http://nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/datacenter
2Source: Internal research completed in March 2025.
3Source: Lightcast Study
Contact Information
Maria Penaloza
Media & Content Strategy Manager
maria.penaloza@issuerdirect.com
Source: American College of Education
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