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Bachelor of Science in Education - Youth & Social Innovation (120 credits)
Youth and Social Innovation is an undergraduate major for students interested in working with and/or on behalf of youth in a variety of settings.
The YSI curriculum is built around three core areas:
- Youth Development (primarily ages eight to 25 years, but also younger children): understanding dynamic processes of biological, social, emotional, and cognitive development, with a focus on how youths’ assets and school/community settings influence youth outcomes.
- Social Innovation: enhancing youth development through systematic approaches to developing and refining youth experiences or programs, with attention to what works for different youth in diverse settings and contexts
- Policy: understanding how regulations and rules that affect schools and organizations serving youth are developed, and understanding the effects of those policies on youth outcomes.
Experiential learning is a key component of the major. Our students work with youth in the community, join faculty-led research, and design innovations addressing issues youth face.
This program prepares enrollees for careers in both private and nonprofit sectors serving children and youth. Students develop critical thinking skills that allow them to analyze social, cultural, and educational challenges facing today’s young people. They also examine programs and policies intended to address these challenges, as well as the design, implementation, and evaluation of next-generation youth programming. Students graduating from the YSI program will be well prepared to provide leadership, management, research and evaluation services to youth-based and youth-serving organizations.
Residency Requirement (60 credits)
A recipient of a B.S.Ed. degree from the Curry School must complete at least 60 of the 120 credits required for graduation at the University of Virginia.
Grade Point Average (GPA) Requirement
Students must earn a minimum GPA of 2.0 on all courses attempted at the University.
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