Post-Baccalaureate Advanced Certificate in Earth Science (7-12)
For students who decide late in their undergraduate careers or after they graduate to pursue certification as teachers, the department offers a sequence of courses, consisting of 21 credits, which leads to an Initial Certificate. This sequence provides an integrated program that includes the coursework and field experience necessary to meet state requirements for initial certification in adolescent education in a specific academic subject area.
Upon completing the Initial Certificate program, students will be recommended for initial certification provided they have also completed the required 36 credits in their major and met all other state requirements for initial certification. The program enables students to begin teaching and gain the experience necessary for professional certification while they complete the coursework required for the master’s degree.
Students who earn the Initial Certificate will automatically become eligible for matriculation in the Master of Science in Education program in their major area.
Students who complete the course and credit requirements for the master’s program in their respective areas will have met the educational requirements for both professional certification and the degree of Master of Science in Education.
Requirements for Matriculation
These requirements are in addition to the general requirements for matriculation.
- Students must hold a bachelor’s degree with a major (or equivalent) in the subject area in which they wish to be certified. Students who were not subject area majors but have a minimum of 21 appropriate credits in the content area may be accepted but are required to complete at least 15 additional content area credits before they are recommended for initial certification. These 15 credits will be selected with the approval of the major advisor. Students who have more than 21 subject-area credits but fewer than 30–36 will be required to make up the corresponding number of missing credits. In all cases, the advisor will ensure that the distribution of the 36 subject-area credits is appropriate to the requirements of certification in the student’s major area
- Students are also required to have one year of college study, or its equivalent, in a language other than English
- Results of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) General Test are required