Teach all sides.

Evolution -> has gaps large enough to drive a truck through, assumes no real design in the universe, that the patterns in nature are all random happenstance, presumes the lack of any driving force, fails to explain DNA properly, pretends that "irreducable complexity" does not exist.

Creationism -> A broad term encompassing those believing in evolution guided by "intelligent design" over vast swaths of time, and the "young earth" crowd espousing a literal 6 * 24hr day creation. (I'm not even getting into a word study on the hebrew word of "yom" and how it can be literal or figurative).

Why can we not teach that we don't have the answer because we are standing at the end looking back and guessing how we got here? We dig through the scrap heat of history and try to put the pieces together. We cannot prove via the scientific process the existence or lack of a driving force, because if it exists, it has intelligence, and if that intelligence far outstrips our own, then it can thwart or avoid our tests.

Rather we could simply teach our kids rational thinking and that truth exists, and they are choosing what they choose to believe.

The separation of Church & State does NOT necessitate the separation of God & Country.

That is of course ignoring the professors who write the books for their courses and are happy to have new revisions every year to keep that part of their revenue in tact :)

Most PhD programs are run by academics, and lead to a research oriented position somewhere or a teaching position.

You will often hear of a thesis or non-thesis masters program. The non-thesis is also called the terminal masters because it indicates no desire to continue the education process.

If you intend to get a respected degree go for a thesis program, instead of a coursework only one. It indicates not only a higher grasp of the coursework involve, but that you have aided in some ground breaking research, and have been able to formulate a thesis based on your findings and contributions. This is great preparation for so many things in academia and corporate work such as grant proposals and business justifications.

IMHO if you want to leave the door open for a PhD, go for a research or thesis masters at an accredited university that has a strong graduate program in that area of study. They should have a masters and PhD program, not that you intend to go into that program, but they will prepare you better to pursue a PhD later.