Rutgers Is Awarded $3.75 Million Federal Grant to Prepare Future Special Education Leaders

Participants will receive stipends to support tuition, travel, conference participation and other professional development opportunities

Rutgers University was awarded a five-year, $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help forge the next generation of special education leaders.

Rutgers will lead the project - called Preparation of Administrators in Special Education, or PASE - in partnership with the University of South Carolina (USC) and Northern Arizona University (NAU). Training is anticipated to begin in January 2026.

The PASE program will prepare experienced special education teachers to become qualified leaders who oversee special education services in districts, early-intervention programs, charter, private and parochial school networks, and state education agencies. The program will recruit and select doctoral students from certified special education teachers who have at least three years of full-time experience working with students with disabilities. PASE is designed to prepare them for leadership roles in special education administration.

The PASE program will prepare experienced special education teachers to become qualified leaders who oversee special education services in districts, early-intervention programs, charter, private and parochial school networks, and state education agencies.

Because of a shortage of special education teachers, many states allow individuals to fill special education administrative positions without holding a special education certificate. This can lead to gaps in understanding the laws, policies and practices that protect students with disabilities.

PASE addresses this problem by ensuring that future district level special education directors and supervisors have both strong backgrounds in special education and extensive administrative training and experience, improving the quality and consistency of support for students with disabilities.

PASE scholars will earn a doctoral degree in education in about four and a half years through hybrid coursework taught by Rutgers education experts, internships, virtual seminars, research projects and a dissertation focused on improving special education administration.

The majority of funds will be used to cover doctoral students' tuition and stipends, including books, travel and summer housing. Officials involved in the project anticipate 100% of the total costs of PASE will be financed with federal money.

"Project PASE integrates the fields of special education and educational administration to develop solutions for supervising and managing complex administrative challenges in the delivery of special education services for students with disabilities, such as planning, supervising, mentoring and the evaluation of evidence-based practices," said Dake Zhang, PASE program coordinator and professor of special education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. "The program also emphasizes serving high-needs districts and high-poverty schools, as well as collaborating closely with families and communities."

Christopher M. Span, dean and a Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School of Education, highlighted the broader impact of the initiative.

"This October, when we celebrated National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we were reminded of the power of inclusion and the importance of expanding opportunities for all individuals," Span said. "This grant represents a critical investment in that mission - building a strong leadership pipeline in special education and preparing administrators who are equipped with the knowledge, compassion and innovation needed to ensure that all students have access to the high-quality education and support they deserve."

Rutgers students involved in PASE will complete the same coursework as other Rutgers students pursing doctoral degrees in education, while participating in shared courses, internships and virtual seminars with peers at USC and NAU. During the program, PASE scholars from the partner institutions will come to Rutgers for a two-week summer residential course. Through Rutgers, all PASE students and faculty will participate in a local historical field trip experience to education sites in the New Jersey and greater New York area.

Likewise, there will be a summer course in Arizona, where all PASE students and faculty will visit schools on the Navajo, Hopi, Acoma, San Carlos Apache or Hualapai reservations - providing opportunities to learn about how settings affect the education of students with disabilities.

During another summer course, the group will go to the USC campus to participate in a shared course, "Evaluation, Coordination and Analysis of Programs for Exceptional Children," which includes a trip to Charleston, S.C. where the group will engage with high-need Gullah schools.

"As the mother of a child with severe autism, I am deeply gratified that this grant provides both financial support and a comprehensive curriculum to prepare special education teachers to become future special education administrators - ultimately improving services for students with disabilities," Zhang said. "As a GSE faculty member, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to my former and current deans' vision by helping bring additional financial support to our special education training programs."

The group of PASE scholars will begin in January 2026 and conclude by May 2030. The doctoral program combines shared online coursework during the academic year with shared in-person summer sessions in Flagstaff, Ariz., New Brunswick, N.J., and Columbia, S.C.

Graduates of the project will be prepared and required to serve as full-time special education administrators dedicated to improving outcomes for students with disabilities.