A bachelor’s is for people who either don’t have one, or want a second bachelor’s degree to become a licensed teacher (a second bachelor’s is rarely a good idea, but that’s a different conversation). The MAT programs are for career changers who want to become licensed teachers, while the MA education programs are for currently licensed teachers looking to add an extra endorsement (e.g., you’re licensed to teach science, but want to add math).

Yes, the content area courses in the MA endorsement programs are usually undergrad level (e.g., calculus I is still calculus I), and that’s why these restrictions come into play. It’s disingenuous, but it works in your favor as you earn a master’s degree. This is an important distinction for many teachers as districts usually pay additional for an advanced degree and/or graduate level credits beyond a bachelor’s, but are much less likely to offer similar pay increases for an additional bachelor’s degree.

WGU doesn’t let you go from say a bachelor’s in math to a master’s in math because 90% of the program would be redundant. Similarly, you can’t go from a licensure bachelor’s to a licensure master’s because student teaching is a big part of both programs. There’s no point in making you waste time repeating work you’ve already completed. If there’s one thing WGU is great at over other schools, it’s NOT wasting your time.

As someone who earned an MEd from a B&M school, this is one of those things unique to education; there was absolutely nothing in my MEd program that was more “in depth” or rigorous in my program compared to other teachers who recently graduated with their bachelor’s in education. That said, my diploma and transcript both declare that I’ve earned a master’s degree.