Appalachian State has a fully online Graduate Certificate program in all four Middle Grades content fields: Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts, as well as in Career and Technical Education, grades 6-12. We also offer an on-campus program for individuals wishing to obtain a Graduate Certificate in Secondary Science or Secondary Mathematics. These classes meet face to face with some courses offered in an online format. To prepare yourself for the application process, read the topics outlined below.
Choose Your Licensure Content Area
Middle Grades: Teach English/Language Arts, Science, Math or Social Studies at the middle school level
Career & Technical Education: Teach Business, Marketing, Information Technology, Technology, Engineering & Design, Family & Consumer Sciences, Health Sciences,* or Trade & Industry** at the middle and high school level.
*Health Sciences: Must have a current license, certification, or registration by a national and/or state-recognized program-accrediting agency as a health professions practitioner. The preparation program for the health professions practitioner license, certification or recognition must require at least two years of formal education and the person must have completed two years of related work experience.
**Trade & Industry: Must provide evidence of having taken a minimum of 24 qualifying content semester hours in the discipline/specialty area. Industry-recognized certifications (such as Welding, Plumbing, etc.) are also considered in cognate decisions.
Secondary Math or Science: Teach Secondary Mathematics, Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, or Physics
Eligibility
- Bachelor's degree in a discipline related to the chosen teaching area.
- Overall GPA of 3.0 on all undergraduate work from a regionally accredited institution.
Application Requirements
- Completed online application to graduate school
- Application Fee
- Official (sealed) transcript from each college or university attended
- Resume (uploaded as part of the online application)
- Personal Statement (uploaded as part of the online application)
Note 1: References and test scores are NOT required for this graduate certificate program
Application Deadlines
Fall Semester: July 1st
Spring Semester: November 1st
Summer Session I: April 1st
Content Field Requirements
The state of North Carolina requires that teachers have 24 credit hours of relevant content in their field in order to be considered highly qualified. New teachers must take and pass PRAXIS II in their content field in order to gain a professional educator's licensing after 2 years of teaching in the field.
Appalachian State's graduate certificate programs require 24 hours of content. Your transcripts will be evaluated for content once you apply to the graduate school for admission to the graduate certificate program. If you do not have enough hours of relevant content, you will take content courses as recommended by the program director. These may be taken while you are in the g-cert program but must be completed by the program's end. You may choose to take these courses through Appalachian State, or online at any other 4-year institution or community college. The program requires that all participants take PRAXIS II by the end of the program to receive their graduate certificates and be recommended by App State RCOE for North Carolina licensure.
Financial Aid
Financial Aid is available to you if you are enrolled for 5 or more hours of coursework in the G-cert program. To request aid, complete the processes found at the financial aid site link below. Next, sign the course verification below and email to taylorjs@appstate.edu. Dr. Taylor will sign it and attach a signed plan of study and send it over to financial aid for you. There are also free loan opportunities for folks getting a license in these high need areas in NC. Check out cfnc.org/fels for more information.
Appalachian State Office of Financial Aid
Course Verification Form (PDF, 251 KB)
Programs of Study
For information on the course requirements for each of the different certificate tracks, please see our Programs of Study