Western Carolina University

Description:  The Secondary Teacher Certification program provides an opportunity to pursue initial licensure in North Carolina in four content areas (Comprehensive Science, Mathematics, English, or Social Science).  For those who qualify, the professional education courses completed for an initial teaching license can be applied to a MAT degree.  The professional education course requirement is different for each program; the coursework can range between 21-29 hours. You may also be required to take some pre-requisite courses (0-25 hours) in your content area.

Eligibility:   Relevant undergraduate content degree with a minimum cumulative 2.75 GPA and a 3.0 GPA within the content courses.  Complete online Eligibility/Pre-Evaluation form for program approval.  

If your cumulative GPA does not meet the required 2.75 you will need to complete 12 credit hours in upper level content courses with a GPA of 3.0 or better. These courses may be taken at any regionally accredited institution, including community colleges.

Results: Recommendation for a 9-12 teaching license. 

Instructional Format: The professional education courses for  Comprehensive Science, English, and Social Science programs are offered online at the Graduate level. The Secondary Math program is residential (face to face) and is not offered in a distance format. Depending upon your academic background, you may be required to take content courses as prerequisites in addition to those offered through this program. These content courses may or may not be offered online through WCU. With preapproval, the content courses may be completed at a local community college or another accredited institution to transfer to WCU.  One full semester of student teaching is required, in the subject & grade of the licensure concentration, and should be fulfilled after all other course work is successfully finished. The internship is not a paid internship. However, lateral entry teachers may complete internship using their own classroom.  

Admission: Rolling admission allows students to begin Spring, Summer, or Fall semester. Secondary English students are required to submit a writing sample along with their graduate application: this writing sample should be a senior level literary analysis that demonstrates the student's ability to analyze literature, incorporate secondary sources, and formulate and support an argumentative position.