Academic Qualifications for Teacher Certification

Generally, courses taken while earning your bachelor's degree will provide your knowledge base for teaching; TMATE concentrates on teaching you how to become an effective teacher.

The minimum academic entry requirements to begin working toward certification through TMATE are:

• A bachelor's degree or better as posted on an OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT from a regionally accredited university - NOTE: Official transcripts from every post-secondary institute you have attended must be submitted to the TMATE Office
• A 2.75 overall grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale
• A 2.75 GPA in your certification area
• At least a 2.5 GPA in your last 60 hours of coursework in order to meet Tarleton Graduate School admissions requirements
• Applicants applying for certification only, must submit passing scores on all three sections of either the THEA, TASP, or  ACCUPLACER.
• Applicants intending to apply TMATE coursework towards the Master's Degree requirement need to submit acceptable GRE scores * (If you wish to attend a university sponsored GRE workshop, click on the link at the upper right hand part of this page)
• 20 hours of classroom observations in the intended certification area
• An oral interview session and completion of an essay

* TMATE curriculum consists of graduate level courses and requires admission through the College of Graduate Studies whether you are applying for “certification only” or as a Master’s Degree candidate.

Applicants can be admitted pending successful completion of current courses during the spring semester. Spring enrollment might be necessary to meet the admission requirements by raising your GPA or adding courses to your certification area or to complete degree requirements. All entry requirements must be met at the beginning of the first summer session in order to enroll.

The courses needed to qualify for the different certification areas are provided through the links in the upper right hand corner of this page.