Program Requirements for Admission

Program Requirements for Admission

Note: In addition to the general prerequisites for admission to the Graduate School, the following is required by this degree program:

How to Enroll

Enrollment in this program requires admission to Penn State’s Graduate School and to the program in Teaching and Curriculum in the College of Education.

To enroll, complete the online application within the Graduate School Admissions Portal.

  • Follow the onscreen instructions to log in.

  • Select the appropriate semester of enrollment.

  • For Enrollment Type, select "Degree Admission." (Certification or Endorsement programs do not award a degree; however, applicants must select “Degree Admission” from the dropdown menu.)

  • Answer the question about prior coursework at Penn State and then follow the prompts provided.

  • For Campus, Choose "Harrisburg" and then select "Teaching and Curriculum" from the Major list.

  • Select “Pennsylvania Educators Level I Certification” from the Degree list. (Applicants who hold PDE Instructional I or II certification already will have their status corrected by PDE.)

  • For  Option, select the appropriate option.

  • Choose a semester.

Admission is on a rolling basis. Candidates must meet the following admission requirements:

  • An overall GPA of at least 3.0 out of a 4.0 scale in previous college work 
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • A valid Pennsylvania teaching certificate
  • Three (3) years of successful teaching experience
  • Official transcripts must be submitted with the online application
     

Applying for Endorsement

Upon completion of all program requirements, the candidate is eligible to petition the PA Department of Education for an endorsement. This would be classified as an add-on to an existing PA Level I or Level II certificate.

Currently, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is utilizing an online system to manage all certificates and endorsements: the Teacher Information Management System (TIMS). The candidate needs to log into the TIMS section of the PDE website to process an application for an add-on endorsement.

If you experience difficulty using our online application, please contact: 
Janet Althouse  jla25@psu.edu 717-948-6213