Iowa offers excellent teacher education programs that prepare students to seek licensure to teach at the secondary level (grades 5-12) in art, English, mathematics, music, science, social studies, or a world language.
Iowa offers excellent teacher education programs that prepare students to seek licensure to teach at the secondary level (grades 5-12) in art, English, mathematics, music, science, social science, or a world language.
Iowa’s College of Education is well known for offering a high-quality curriculum that provides solid preparation for teaching careers. The college is ranked as the No. 1 College of Education in Iowa and No. 30 in best education schools nationally, according to the U.S. News & World Report.
With a 10:1 student to faculty ratio, Iowa's education students enjoy a Big Ten university experience with a small-college feel. Faculty are on a first-name basis with our students and our program provides an enriched learning environment that celebrates diversity.
Through the Baker Teacher Leader Center, Iowa's teacher education students engage in advanced professional development, distinguishing them in their field. Our unique professional development certificate program offers specialized training and skill enhancement in critical areas such as special education, multilingual education, social-emotional-behavioral mental health, advanced academics and talent development, global education, dyslexia intervention, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts/design, and math).
The seven secondary teaching majors (BA) are among a wide variety of undergraduate majors offered by the College of Education. In addition to these seven secondary teaching majors (BA), College of Education offers Elementary Education (BA); two non-licensure majors, Counseling and Behavioral Health Services (BA), and Education Studies and Human Relations (BA); and Science Studies (BS).
First-year students who would like to teach in secondary schools (grades 5-12 or K-12) apply to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for a major in the main subject they would like to teach (for example, Biology, or Spanish) and "secondary education interest" as a second major. Students may apply to the Teacher Education Program and education major (for example, Science Education, or World Language Education) when they have earned 30 semester hours of credit and completed prerequisite courses.
Direct Admission to Music Education: First-year students who want to become music teachers apply to "music interest" as their first major, and "secondary education interest" as a second major. They complete a supplemental application and audition for the School of Music; students who are admitted and who have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher may be offered early admission to Music Education. Students who are offered early admission apply to the Teacher Education program -- requiring 10 hours of pre-admission school field experience and an essay -- in their first semester. Students who do not gain early admission may apply to the TEP later, as described under Secondary Education.
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Overall, 97 percent of our secondary education program graduates are professionally employed after graduation.
Teaching is one of the few professions offering substantial choices in terms of job location. Iowa graduates can be found teaching a variety of subjects in 26 different states and overseas. Salaries vary by region and by school district.
Our Pomerantz Career Center offers multiple resources to help students find internships and jobs.
In addition to more than 500 Student Organizations, Iowa students choose from more than 100 Study Abroad Programs and multiple Undergraduate Research Opportunities.
The College of Education's Teacher Leader Center hosts a variety of workshops to help with student learning.
The University of Iowa provides a variety of scholarships to eligible undergraduate students through the Iowa Scholarship Portal. Scholarships are available to first-year, transfer, and currently enrolled students. For additional details on scholarships for your program of study, check directly with the department or college.
The College of Education, the Office of Admissions, and the Office of Student Financial Aid are great resources for students seeking scholarships.
Students who want to teach at the secondary school level must complete two bachelor degrees: a BA from the College of Education and a bachelor degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) in the primary subject they want to teach.
Iowa provides secondary school teacher preparation programs in seven majors. The following course work is required:
Art Education - Take 48 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BA or a BFA in art.
English Education - Take 41 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BA in English or English and creative writing.
Mathematics Education - Take 46 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BA or a BS in mathematics.
Music Education - Take a minimum of 44 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BM in music with a performance subprogram of brass/woodwind, jazz, organ, percussion, piano, piano with teacher education, string, or voice.
Science Education - Take 45 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BA or BS in biology; a BA or BS in chemistry; a BA or BS in environmental sciences; a BA or BS in geoscience; a BA or BS in physics; or a BS in science studies.
Social Studies Education - Take 42 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BA or BS in anthropology; a BA or BS in economics; a BA or BS in geography; a BA in history; a BA or BS in political science; a BA or BS in psychology; or a BA in sociology, plus 15 s.h. in an additional social studies area.
World Language Education - Take 48 s.h. from the College of Education and complete CLAS requirements for a BA degree in one of the following: Asian languages and literature with a Chinese or Japanese subprogram, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, or classical languages with a Latin language emphasis.
Course work includes one semester of student teaching and pre-student teaching field experiences in schools.
General education requirements to earn a bachelor of arts degree from the College of Education are the GE CLAS Core of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, so the same courses will satisfy the general education requirements of both colleges.
See Teaching and Learning in the UI General Catalog for detailed information on required course work.