Become an Elementary Teacher in One Year and Earn Your Master's Degree / License

The Education Master of Arts in Teaching – Elementary Education with Licensure Concentration program allows bachelor’s degree holders to change careers by becoming licensed/endorsed elementary teachers. 

This accelerated program features a blend of online and in-person requirements, including school placement options across the Colorado Front Range. See the hybrid delivery summary below for details.

The mission of this Master of Arts in Teaching plus teacher licensure program is to prepare graduate-level teacher candidates who are able to perform proficiently in elementary classrooms situated in an increasingly complex, diverse, and technologically advanced society. This program emphasizes both depth and breadth of teaching knowledge, theory, research, practice and skills.

Inspire the Next Generation

With a graduate-level Education degree and licensure from UNC, you'll be a highly valued teacher candidate—UNC is the premier teacher preparation university in Colorado. You'll make a difference in the lives of children, and establish a career in a field that is always in demand.

UNC School of Teacher Education programs are accredited by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE).

PHoto of Child in Classroom Raising her Hand

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Hybrid Delivery Plus Student Teaching Experiences

The Extended Campus delivery of this master's degree is a fast-completion, high-quality route to teacher licensure. Our faculty have recently redesigned the program to reduce the amount of time you will spend in UNC classrooms, so that you can fit a significant portion of this program around your other obligations.

What does "hybrid" delivery of this program mean?

  • Some courses will be delivered fully face-to-face at your chosen UNC location in Denver or Loveland.
  • Some courses have a hybrid delivery, where you will have a few face-to-face class sessions but some instruction will be completed online.
  • Some courses will be completely online.
  • Schedules for courses differ between the Loveland and Denver delivery locations.

You will also have coursework to support teaching experiences that give you valuable experience, including...

  • Practicums: field experience in an elementary classroom. You will be assigned to a school two days per week in the fall semester of the program. This experience includes some teaching responsibilities. We have partner schools available across the Northern Colorado, Denver and Colorado Springs areas.
  • Student Teaching: a full time (Monday–Friday during school hours) teaching responsibility that takes place in the spring semester of the program. You will be required to spend 16 full weeks in an elementary classroom. We do our best to accommodate requests for placement, but there are no guarantees of availability at a requested area/school.

Coursework (45 Credit Hours)

For an example of upcoming courses, visit a Current Students page for either the Denver + Online delivery or the Loveland + Online delivery.

For full program requirement details, see the official program listing in the UNC Graduate Catalog.

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What Our Students Say...

The quick timeline and the convenience of where it was offered were important to me. Once I researched UNC’s great teacher education history, it was an easy choice.

– Christian Kozlowski, program graduate