Program Completer Information
Completing your University of Michigan degree will launch your career.
Achieving your goal to become a certified teacher is an accomplishment of which you should be proud. Please refer to the links below for what is required for program completion.
- Complete degree requirements in a prescribed curriculum in education for the state elementary or secondary standard certificate.
- Maintain a 2.75 or better overall grade point average (GPA); a 2.75 GPA in education courses and a 2.75 GPA in each major and minor teaching area. How to calculate your GPA.
- Pass the required Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC)
- Elementary Education Students must pass the MTTC Elementary Education (103) exam.
- Secondary Education students must pass the MTTC Subject exam in their teaching major.
- Earn a satisfactory rating in:
- EDD 421 Directed Teaching in Secondary Schools
- EDD 424 Seminar: Teaching Secondary Grades or EDD 435 Directed Teaching in Elementary Schools
- EDD 437 Seminar: Teaching in Elementary Grades.
- Submit application for initial teacher certification in MOECS.
- Complete degree requirements in a prescribed curriculum in education for the state secondary standard certificate.
- Maintain a 3.0 or better overall grade point average (GPA); a 3.0 GPA in education courses and a 2.75 GPA in each major and minor teaching area. How to calculate your GPA.
- Pass the required Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC) Subject exam in your teaching major.
- Satisfactory rating in EDD 517 and EDD 518
- Submit application for initial teacher certification in MOECS.
The Michigan Teacher Certification Administrative Rules impose the following conditions on teacher certification: Rule 101. "The State Board may refuse to grant or renew, or may revoke or suspend for a fixed term, or may impose reasonable conditions on, a teaching certificate pursuant to these rules for the following reasons:
- Fraud, material misrepresentation or concealment in the application for a certificate.
- Failure or ineligibility of the applicant or certificate holder to meet the criteria for eligibility for the certificate.
- Conviction, as an adult, of an act of immoral conduct contributing to the delinquency of a child, or a felony involving moral turpitude."
Certificate applicants are required to sign a statement of Moral Turpitude declaring that the conditions stated in Rule 101 do not apply to them.
In February 2010, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) launched the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS). Because the MOECS greatly accelerates the MDE's verification and issuance of educator certifications, the College of Education, Health, and Human Services does not issue 90-day letters to program completers. Applicants for initial standard certificate must apply for certification directly through the MOECS, and their standard certificate applications will be approved once final grades have been posted, transcripts have been reviewed by the College of Education, Health, and Human Services' Office for Student Success, and the applicant pays the MDE's certification processing fee.
- For Fall graduates who have properly submitted an application through the MOECS, final transcript reviews and verification typically are completed by about the last week of the January following graduation.
- For Winter graduates, certificate approvals are usually complete around the third week of May.
Upon this final verification, the MDE will send a billing statement directly to the student via the email address the student provides through MOECS at the time of application. Upon receipt of payment, the MDE will make teaching certificates available to successful applicants. (note: Recipients will be required to have their certificates notarized to finalize their validity. Additional information is provided through the MOECS, and students should read this carefully.)
More information can be accessed in the Michigan Department of Education's MOECS site. You may also call phone 517-247-5000 or [email protected] for support with MOECS.
Please see the Certification Instructions for Students for the steps required to register with MOECS.
Please visit the Michigan Online Educator Certification System site for continued updates and more information on MOECS.
The UM-Dearborn Office of Career Services site is full of useful information about writing resumes, cover letters, a professional portfolio, sample interview questions, tips, etc. that all education students should access, even before they are at the point of student teaching. Our Career Center also houses information about current job opportunities. If you have further questions, please contact Britta Roan at 313-593-5020.