Admission into Teacher Education Program
All education majors seeking certification must successfully complete teacher education program admission, monitoring, and exit criteria procedures. Formal admission into the Teacher Education Program generally occurs when candidates earn between 48 and 60 credits. To be formally admitted into the Teacher Education Program, candidates must meet the following criteria:
- Apply for Teacher Education Council (TEC) admission approval;
- Satisfactorily meet the reading, writing, and mathematics competencies set by the state;
- Earn a minimum overall undergraduate QPA as identified by Pennsylvania law (2.8 or as determined by the department; transfer students’ grades are included in averaging the QPA);
- Complete six credits of mathematics courses and six credits of English (including one composition and one literature) courses (undergraduates only);
- Complete at least 48 credit hours by the time candidacy admission is decided;
- Complete Act 34, FBI clearance and ACT 151 child abuse clearance (and other clearances as required by PDE); and
- Be recommended by departmental faculty and approved by the Teacher Education Council.
Students are then admitted to candidacy in the teacher education program and are permitted to take upper level major courses. A 2.8 - 4.0 QPA is required for Pennsylvania teacher certification.
The student’s progress and mastery of competencies will be monitored while completing requirements in the program. All students are required to maintain a cumulative and major average as specified by Pennsylvania law and the respective departments, to remain in the program and to take teacher education classes. Only qualified teacher education majors are allowed to take upper-level teacher education classes.
Each department will provide each student a copy of its program requirements, course checklist, and expectations. Students must satisfy all program requirements to be recommended for the degree and teacher certification, including a 2.8 - 4.0 QPA. Certification test passing scores are set by the Commonwealth using a sliding scale. As such, the lower a candidate's QPA, the higher they must score to pass. No candidate graduating with a QPA less than 2.8 will be certified in Pennsylvania. Candidates are responsible to ensure their final, overall QPA qualifies for certification in the Commonwealth before applying for graduation.
All applicants for teacher certification must be endorsed by the faculty adviser, the department, and the dean of the College of Education, who serves as the certifying officer for the university.
Experienced non-degree teachers, graduates of other colleges or universities, or others who need special assignments in student teaching will have their individual alternative programs planned and approved by the appropriate department and by the dean of the College of Education. Transfer students’ transcripts will be individually evaluated by the department chair to determine equivalent courses to be accepted.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires that all certification applicants satisfactorily pass the appropriate sections of the ETS Praxis or Pennsylvania Educators Certification Tests. Students must also complete the teacher certification application and respond to immigration, criminal record, child abuse, and health statements.