Graduate Certificate in Teaching

Definition:  A Graduate Certificate program is recognized by the university as a coherent academic program of at least 12 credit hours.  It is a program designed and proposed by a unit of graduate faculty and approved by the Graduate Council.  It is not a degree program, although approved credits may be applied to a master's degree at a later time. The specific program, Graduate Certificate in Teaching,  is not the same as a teaching license, although it leads to the recommendation for a teaching license through the Office of Teacher Education Advising and Licensure (TEAL).

Purpose:  The Graduate Certificate in Teaching focuses on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to be successful as a beginning classroom teacher.  While it is called the Graduate Certificate in Teaching, there are actually many specific programs within this Graduate Certificate, each leading to the recommendation for a specific North Carolina Standard Professional I teaching license.   The entire program of study can be brought forward into the Master of Arts in Teaching if a student applies to and is accepted into that degree program.

Components:  18-27 hours of graduate courses with school-based clinical assignments, additional content deficiency courses in the licensure field if necessary, a full-time semester-long student teaching internship, technology portfolio, and any Specialty Area Praxis II examination required by the state of North Carolina.

Benefits:  Students admitted to a Graduate Certificate program receive regular advising from departmental faculty, are eligible for graduate levels of financial aid, and may apply for graduate assistantships.  Upon completion of the program, the University awards a graduate certificate in lieu of a diploma.

NOTE about the Graduate Certificate in Teaching (Summer 2007) .  Students previously enrolled in the fast-track licensure program will be automatically upgraded to the UNCC Graduate Certificate Program by Fall 2007 without any additional applications.  The change in application forms will start in mid-July.   During the transition, this website will begin using the term Graduate Certificate and refer to the former language of fast-track licensure program.