Licensing Program Information

This page will provide current MPS employees and students with information about university/college licensing programs.

ALL LICENSING PROGRAMS: To access a table of all information for licensing programs for colleges and universities in the Twin Cities area, please click here. 

Spotlight on programs:

CUE Programs

CUE programs are funded through the state legislature and programs are available at Augsburg, St. Thomas, Concordia and Hamline. 

• Southeast Asian Teacher Program (SEAT): The Southeast Asian Teacher (SEAT) licensure program at Concordia University, St. Paul, is an accelerated bachelor's degree program and, for those who already have a bachelor’s degree, a post-baccalaureate program leading to teacher licensure.

  The SEAT program is for individuals currently employed in Minnesota school districts as paraprofessionals, educational assistants and teaching assistants who are seeking a teacher license. http://www.csp.edu/academics/areas-of-study/teacher-education/post-bacc/seat/

• Augsburg EAST: Augsburg College’s Education Department is a recipient of the Minnesota legislature’s generous Collaborative Urban Educator (CUE) funding. The CUE program’s purpose is to increase the diversity of the teacher workforce in Minnesota. Our program specifically targets East African future teachers: East African Student to Teacher (EAST). The goal of the program is to recruit, retain, and license highly qualified students who wish to become K-12 teachers. EAST covers tuition costs towards initial licensure. Award amount will vary based on degree sought and are decided on an individual basis. Their website is http://augsburg.edu/education/east.  

• St. Thomas: The St. Thomas CUE program licenses people in ESL and special education. The program recruits diverse teacher candidates and provides a scholarship to cover tuition for accepted applicants. This is a graduate-level program and therefore, applicants are required to have their Bachelor's degree. The next recruitment cycle will be in spring 2017. You can view the 2015 application here.

Special Education Licensing Programs

All state approved Special Education licensing programs: If you go to this webpage (http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/EdExc/Licen/TrainTeachMN/AppLicenProg/index.html), you can find a list of state-approved licensing program kind of special education license. The information lists the universities, the website for each university and whether or not the program is at the graduate level or the undergraduate level. 

University of Minnesota Special Education Program Information

• University of Minnesota Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: The contact is Jennifer McComas and Jennifer’s email is jmccomas@umn.edu. Her phone number is (612)624-5854.

• University of Minnesota Learning Disabilities program: The contact is Kathy Seifert: email is seif0074@umn.edu and phone is 612.625.6559.

St. Mary's University Program Information

• St. Mary’s University Special Education programs: This is the program's website: http://www.smumn.edu/graduate-home/areas-of-study/graduate-school-of-education/ma-in-special-education. The contact is Rodney L. Wilson and his email is rwilson@smumn.edu. His phone number is (612)238-4565.

Minnesota State University - Mankato

• You can view a flier from the program here.
• The website link is here:http://ed.mnsu.edu/sped/graduate_programs/licensure.html
• A handout of Special Education Graduate Certificates and MS Degree courses is available here.
• The contact person is Dr. Aaron Deris, Assistant Professor and the contact information is (aaron.deris@mnsu.edu) and Phone: 952. 818.8878
• There is a diversity scholarship for $3,000 for students in traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in high need areas, including special education: http://ed.mnsu.edu/ay14-15diversity_recrutiment_scholarship_announcement.pdf

St. Thomas University 

• St. Thomas offers off-site cohorts in St. Paul, Burnsville, Plymouth and Roseville. Courses are offered at a reduced rate and classes meeting on Thursday evenings and two Saturdays per semester. You can view a flyer here.
• The college also offers an Early Childhood Special Education licensing program. You can view the flyer here.
• The contact for these program is Barbara Jo Stahl, Adjust Faculty and Off Campus Coordinator. The phone number is 651.962.4398 and email is bjstahl@stthomas.edu. 

Elementary Education Licensing Programs

Metropolitan State University

• A handout on the B.S. in Elementary Education (MN Teaching License for Grades K-6) is available here. 
• A handout of the Field Experience Checkpoints for a License in K-6 Education at Metro State is available here. 
• A handout of the Summary of Minimum Required Urban Field Experiences Prior to Student Teaching and Student Teaching Options for Urban Elementary Teacher Candidates PreK-6 Licensure is available here. 
• The contact is James Burnett, Academic Advisor and his contact information is (James.Burnett@metrostate.edu) and Phone: 651.999.5922.

The College of St. Scholastica

• A handout of the B.S. in Elementary Education at St. Scholastica is available here
• The contact person is Heidi Bergstedt, Admissions Counselor and Heidi's contact information is (hbergstedt@css.edu) and Phone: 877.287.8751.

Secondary Education Licensing Programs

Metropolitan State University

• A handout on the B.S. in Social Studies Education is available here.
• A handout on the B.S. in Mathematics Education is available here.
• A handout on the B.S. in Life Sciences Education is available here.
• A handout on the B.S. in English Education is available here.
• Field Experience Checkpoints for Licensure in Grade 5-12 at Metro State can be reviewed here.

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• English Education: The contact for English Education is Cynthia Lewis and Cynthia’s email address is (lewis@umn.edu) and (612-625-6313). Here is the website for the program: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ci/Future/MEdInitial/Literacy.html
• Social Studies Education: The contact for Social Studies is named Rudy Hernández and Rudy's phone number is 612-626-1513 and the email is r-hern@umn.edu.The website for the program is: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ci/Future/MEdInitial/SocStud.html

Hamline 

• Social Studies Education: The contact information for the program is (651) 523-2600 and education@hamline.edu. The website is: http://www.hamline.edu/education/undergraduate/social-studies.html

Augsburg

• Social Studies Education: The contact information sticha@augsburg.edu and (612)330-1130. The website is: http://www.augsburg.edu/education/programs/social-studies/

English as a Second Language

• University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus: They offer a M.A. in Second Language Education. Here is the website: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ci/Future/MA/SLC.html
• St. Mary’s University offers a MA and license in English as a Second Language: http://www.smumn.edu/graduate-home/areas-of-study/graduate-school-of-education/graduate-certificate-in-english-as-a-second-language-esl
• Augsburg offers a license in English as a Second Language: http://www.augsburg.edu/mae/licenses/esl/