To join the Teacher Preparation Program, students need to apply for admission at the Office of Educator Preparation and Accountability. The admission requirements comply with the Texas Administrative Code rules §227.10 and HEA Title II accountability requirements. All applicants must meet the certification requirements at the time of application, regardless of their degree plan's catalog year. Students are accountable for completing the requirements below.
Deadlines
Fall 2025
Opens: Monday, March 10, 2025
Closes: Friday, April 25, 2025
Teacher Preparation Program Admission Requirements
Admission Requirements for Elementary, All-Level/ Secondary Certificate Programs
In accordance with Texas Administrative Code §227.10, §228.40 §230.11, §233, the following are required.
Submit official UTRGV transcript
- Transcript must reflect "TSI STATUS- Met" (upload official transcript with application)
Core Complete (at time of admission)
- Have completed 60 credit hours toward degree plan with teacher certification and an overall GPA of 2.75 or higher. The 60 credit hours of coursework includes core completion.
- Candidates must be core complete at time of admission.
- Electives and language proficiency courses are not included in the 60 credit hours.
Meet required credit hours
- All candidates must have 12 credit hours completed in the major.
- Math/Science majors (UTeach Program) must have 15 credit hours completed in the major.
Complete Prerequisite Coursework (grades)
- ENGL 1301 & 1302 with C or better (All Grade Levels)
- EDUC 1301 (Elementary Teacher Education Program: only Bilingual, ESL, and Special Education concentrations)
- EDFR 2301 (Elementary Teacher Education Program: only Bilingual, ESL, and Special Education concentrations)
- MATH 1350 & 1351 (Elementary Teacher Education Program)
- UTCH 1101 & 1102 with C or better (UTeach Program only)
- UTCH 3301 with C or better (UTeach Program only)
Clearance of Criminal Background Check
- Clearance of a Criminal Background Check is required. This step is completed during the application process in Tk20.
- Pursuant to the Texas Education Code (TEC), §22.083, candidates must undergo criminal history background check prior to employment as an educator. Pursuant to the TEC, §22.0835, candidates must undergo a criminal history background check prior to clinical teaching. TAC §227.1 (b)
- It is the responsibility of the student to determine if their criminal history background will present a problem before applying for admission to these programs.
- Depending on your initial Criminal Background Check status you may be required to do an additional Criminal Background Check incurring additional cost.
Teacher Candidate Admission Interview
- All candidates will be interviewed as part of the application process.
- Candidates will be contacted by the respective major’s department after submission of the application to schedule interviews.
(FOR INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES ONLY) - As per Texas Administrative Code, Chapter §227.10(7)(B), an applicant to a university undergraduate program that leads to a bachelor's degree may satisfy the English language proficiency requirement by meeting the English language proficiency requirement of the accredited Institution of Higher Education (IHE) at which the candidate is enrolled, or candidate must take all four parts of the Test of English as a Foreign Language-Internet Bases Test (TOEFL-iBT) and obtain a minimum score of 24 for speaking, 22 for listening, 22 for reading, and 21 for writing.