Early Childhood to Fourth Grade Certification

If you are seeking Early Childhood to Fourth Grade Certification and you have not earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited school, you will need to do the following:

1. Enroll in the College of Education. If you are not a UT Austin student, you should select the College of Education as your desired college on your UT Austin admissions application. If you are already attending UT Austin but not enrolled in the College of Education, you will need to meet with an Academic Advisor in SZB 216 and complete the college change paperwork. Students who have 45 or more semester hours must have a minimum 2.0 overall UT GPA to transfer into the College of Education.

2. Pursue a Bachelor of Science in Applied Learning and Development, which requires a minimum of 130 hours of coursework (139 semester hours for Bilingual and 133 semester hours for Special Education). See an Academic Advisor in SZB 216 for a breakdown of the requirements.

3. Apply and get admitted to the Professional Development Sequence by the deadline appropriate for your timeline.

4. Pass your state certification tests (TExES, ExCET or TOPT certification exams) during your apprentice teaching semester.

5. Apply for your teacher certification. You must complete your entire degree program and pass your state certification examinations to be eligible to apply for your certification.

The University of Texas at Austin College of Education offers three versions of the Applied Learning and Development major that culminate in teacher certification:

• Early Childhood to Fourth Grade Generalist -- This degree program prepares students to take the TExES certification tests to teach in a general elementary classroom from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade.
• Early Childhood to Fourth Grade Generalist Certification with Bilingual Education -- This degree program prepares students to take the TExES and TOPT certification tests to teach in a bilingual elementary classroom from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade or a general elementary classroom from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade.
• All-Level Generic Special Education Certification -- This degree program prepares students to take the TExES and ExCET certification tests for Generic Special Education to teach special education from grades pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade.

Additionally, UT Austin offers Post-baccalaureate certification programs for:

• Post-baccalaureate Early Childhood to Fourth Grade Generalist Certification
• Post-baccalaureate Early Childhood to Fourth Grade Generalist Certification with Bilingual Education
• Post-baccalaureate All-Level Generic Special Education
• Post-baccalaureate All-Level Kinesiology
• Post-baccalaureate All-Level Art, Music, or Theatre Arts

For more information please call (512) 471-3223