How Long Does it Take to Earn a Master’s Degree in Gerontology?

---

Earning a Master’s degree in gerontology can be quite an extensive program. There are many fields available in the study of gerontology. Depending on the area you choose to pursue, you may be required to complete many additional hours of study.

To begin your career in Gerontology with a master’s degree, you must first obtain your associate’s degree. An Associate’s degree does allow for students to gain access to entry-level jobs in the field of gerontology and provides them with the opportunity to experience the different branches of the field, possibly aiding them in making their career choice.

Completing Your Bachelor Degree Program

The Associate’s degree is a standard two-year program. The next step to a master’s degree in gerontology is to receive your bachelor’s degree. A bachelor’s degree prepares you for work in several different fields, such as senior centers, home health care agencies, government offices on aging, adult day care programs, adult protective services agencies, long term care and retirement facilities and other related fields. Obtaining a bachelor’s degree requires 124 semester hours as well as forty-two hours of advanced work.

Upon completion of the courses, students will obtain six semester hours of credit for an internship in an agency or facility that focuses on servicing older people. If you are one of the students who have decided they would like to pursue a bachelor’s degree with a concurrent major in Gerontology, you will also need an additional fifty-five semester hours in social work and the courses that are related, along with twenty-four semester hours in the study of gerontology.

Many students use their bachelor degree to begin exploring the many options available to them in gerontology before determining a specialized field for completing their Master’s. There is a prerequisite of three hours of social gerontology that you must take before beginning your disciplines toward a Master’s degree program in Gerontology. This may be taken in conjunction with the courses that apply to the field.

Acquiring Your Goal

You will need to complete forty-five to forty-six semester hours that include nine semester hours of the core courses in aging, along with 15 18 semester hours of required course work in the specialized field you have chosen to study to complete your master’s. You will also need an internship in a facility or agency serving older people. The internship requires three to six semester hours of credit, and three semester hours of credit for a capstone seminar on applications in practice.

The remainder of the gerontology degree program is comprised of elective courses in gerontology and the gerontology fields. If you have chosen a field in family and internal medicine, you must also have a one to three year fellowship in the related field. Medical gerontologists are also required to be board certified and must obtain a license.

The opportunities in the field of gerontology are so extensive, there may be additional requirements dependent on the career you have chosen. With a profession as vast as gerontology, it is indeed recommended you explore all your options before making a final decision. Many of the fields work in coalition with each other and you may find you are interested in more than one particular setting.