College Graduation Requirements

Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

The College of Education does not award Bachelor of Arts degrees to students who have already completed an accredited first Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. degree, regardless of when the degree was completed. 

Students receive a Bachelor of Arts degree upon the successful completion of a minimum of 124. These credit hours are satisfied by taking courses in three categories: (1) University requirements (General Education); (2) Applied Communications major requirements; (3) elective courses.

University Requirements

All new students starting in the 2010-2011 academic year and beyond are required to complete the university's General Education (GenEd) curriculum. 

All Temple students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses. The specific writing-intensive courses required are listed on the Applied Communication program page and are identified by "WI" in the RCI column.

Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Education

Students receive a bachelor of science in education degree with a recommendation to the state for teacher certification upon the successful completion of a minimum of 120 semester hours with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (please refer to the requirements of your particular major as some programs mandate completion of more than 120 semester hours). These credit hours are satisfied by taking courses in three categories: (1) University requirements (General Education); (2) Education course sequence; (3) Certification Courses (including student teaching) (4) elective courses.

University Requirements

All new students starting in the 2010-2011 academic year and beyond are required to complete the university's General Education (GenEd) curriculum. Information about the GenEd program can be found at: www.temple.edu/bulletin/Academic_Programs/general_education/index.shtm.

All Temple students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses. The specific writing-intensive courses required for each major are listed on the individual program pages and are identified by "WI" in the RCI column.

Other Requirements for College of Education Students

In addition to taking the required courses above, all students seeking teacher certification through the College of Education must meet the following state requirements.

Composition/Writing and Literature:
All students must take 6 credits of English, 3 in composition/writing and 3 in literature.

Mathematics/Statistics/Logic:
All students must take two college-level mathematics courses. Courses at the Mathematics 0701 level or below are not applicable to this requirement.

Professional Certification

Areas of Certification

All curricula leading to Commonwealth certification are organized to meet the standards established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Certificates for which Temple University, College of Education, undergraduate students may be recommended include the following:

- Art Education (See Tyler School of Art)
- Early Childhood Education (Pre K to 4)
- Health and Physical Education (See College of Health Professions & Social Work)
- Music (See Boyer College of Music & Dance)

- Middle Years Education (grades 4 to 8)

         - Math and Science

         - Math and English/Language Arts

         - Science and English/Language Arts
- Secondary Education
          - English
          - World Languages
            - French
            - German
            - Hebrew
            - Italian
            - Latin
            - Portuguese
            - Spanish
          - Mathematics
          - Science
            - Chemistry
            - Earth and Space Science
            - Physics
          - Social Studies
- Career and Technical Education
          - Business, Computer, and Information Technology K-12 (Formerly Business Education)
          - Cooperative Education
          - Marketing Education K-12
          - Industrial (Career Technical) Education

Requirements for Certification

Graduation from the College of Education does not carry automatic endorsement for state certification. Students must complete all the requirements for teacher preparation, including student teaching; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and pass all required performance assessments (see below).

In addition, all students seeking certification are required by the State of Pennsylvania to pass the relevant parts of the Pennsylvania Teacher Certification Testing Program in order to be eligible for teacher certification. The required tests include the Praxis I and Praxis II series. Students should check with the Student Resource Center for the current regulations. 

Students not obtaining Pennsylvania State Teacher certification within five years of completing their programs must take additional coursework before the College of Education will recommend them for certification.

Diagnostic Speech Assessment

Candidates for teacher certification are given a diagnostic speech assessment. Additional diagnostic testing may be required, and corrective actions may be taken, to remediate problems. Decisions about remedial efforts and student eligibility to continue in a program will be determined by the chair of the department in which the student is enrolled and approved by the associate dean of the College of Education.

Clinical Experience: Practicum and Student Teaching

The College or Education places a great deal of emphasis on students' in-school experiences. All undergraduates are required to complete courses that place them in school settings one half-day or more each week. Student teaching, completed in a student's final semester, constitutes the most important field experience for prospective teachers. Application for student teaching placement must be made the semester prior to student teaching.

Performance Assessment

In addition to the teacher certification tests (Praxis I and Praxis II tests) required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, students are required to complete three performance assessments in order to gauge the extent to which they (a) know the content they will teach, (b) can teach the content, and (c) embody the professional attributes required of professional educators. The performance assessments occur at three points in the undergraduate program: initially when prospective students are being admitted to certification programs (candidacy); in the junior year, prior to student teaching (intermediate assessment); and before graduation, while student teaching (senior assessment). In addition to assessing and informing candidates about their teaching, the performance assessments are intended for use by faculty as a tool for program evaluation.

Professional Education Portfolio

After being admitted to a teacher certification program and for the duration of the degree program, students will be required to maintain a professional education portfolio in either electronic or hard copy form. Faculty will use the portfolio to complement the performance assessment activity described above. The specific requirements for the portfolio will be available from the student’s faculty advisor.