Schedule for Courses and Teaching Experiences
- Some courses will be delivered fully face-to-face at your chosen UNC location in Denver
or Greeley.
- 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 Denver and Greeley delivery locations.
You will be eligible for licensure at the end of the Spring term, and can apply for
teaching jobs that begin that Summer/Fall.
Definitions
- Practicum: field experience hours in a middle school or high school classroom. You will be assigned
to a school for the Fall semester of the program. This experience includes some teaching
responsibilities.
- 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 a middle school or high school classroom. We do our best to accommodate requests
for placement, but there are no guarantees of availability at a requested area/school.
Coursework (36 Credit Hours)
For full program requirement details, see the official program listing in the UNC Graduate Catalog.
Admission Requirements
Possess (or be in the process of finishing) a baccalaureate degree from an Institutionally
Accredited college or university, or a comparable degree from a foreign institution.
Have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better (on a 4.00 point scale) for the most recent
degree earned or current degree in progress.
If you are still completing your bachelor's degree at the time you apply, admission
will be based on your current cumulative GPA, and you will need to re-submit your
official transcript (showing your conferred degree and final GPA) during your first
semester. If your final GPA fell below 3.00, you will be given additional requirements
as defined by the academic program that must be met within one calendar year to remain
enrolled at UNC.
If you have completed a master's degree, or at least 18 credit hours towards a master's
degree, the GPA of your master's work will be used.
-
You will either need to have a bachelor’s in the content area in which you would like
to be licensed (English, Biology, etc.) OR proof that you have passed the PRAXIS exam
for that content area. Visit the Colorado Department of Education site for coursework and Praxis requirements for each content area. For any questions regarding this, please contact the Admissions Coach.
- NOTE: students who are admitted based on holding a degree in the content area will
need to pass a Praxis exam prior to student teaching. UNC will remind you about enrolling
for this exam prior to that semester.
Licensure Eligibility by State
All UNC professional licensure programs are designed to lead to Colorado licensure.
However, since each state has their own educational preparation requirements, UNC's
programs may or may not meet these requirements in each state. For a complete list
of states where UNC has determined that this program will or will not fulfill educational
requirements for licensure, please visit the UNC Licensure page.
UNC encourages all students entering a professional licensure program to understand
licensure requirements in the state where they intend to seek employment. Please review
the State Licensure Boards page to find contact information for licensing agencies in each state.
International Student Eligibility
F-1 and J-1 student visas are not available for this program: this delivery of this program is not approved by the Department of Homeland Security
or the US Department of State for F-1 or J-1 visa status students. However, if you
are a non-U.S. citizen who will be in the U.S. under another visa category that allows
you to study, you may enroll in this program. Prior to applying and enrolling, please
carefully note any restrictions on enrollment or employment for your visa category.
Transferring Credit
UNC graduate school accepts applicable graduate credit with a grade of C or higher
from accredited institutions. Please note that if your chosen program has a higher
grade minimum for any program coursework, that minimum would apply to transfer requests
for those courses. Graduate program faculty are responsible for reviewing any proposed
transfer credit to ensure that course content and objectives match program content.
- Students must complete at least 50% of their graduate program credits at UNC, not
including research, capstone, seminar, internship/externship/practicum, thesis, dissertation
proposal, dissertation and any credits graded with S/U (P/F).
- Courses requested for transfer must not be more than five years old for master's degree
credit, and cannot have been used to fulfill requirements for a previously awarded
degree. See the full Graduate Transfer Credit Policy.
Tuition
This is an Extended Campus program, which means:
- We charge a flat per-credit tuition rate for all students (in-state or out-of-state).
- There are no added student fees or technology fees. However, certain courses may carry
specific course fees to support additional services and materials.
Program tuition for the 2025-26 academic year (which runs Fall, Spring, and Summer
terms) is $668 per credit hour. Tuition for the 2026-27 academic year will be determined
mid-June 2026.
Estimates of additional costs: For the purposes of determining financial aid, UNC
follows Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and federal guidelines to develop
an estimated, average Cost of Attendance (budget) for different student classifications.
For your personal tuition estimates, we recommend using the program-specific tuition
information above. But UNC's official Cost of Attendance/Student Budgets page can help you identify other estimated expenses for which you may be responsible while
completing your program.
Financial Aid
Please note: once you are admitted to the program, we recommend that you enroll for
the first program courses as soon as possible and then...
- Apply for FAFSA (see below) for the current academic year (which runs each Fall through
Summer) to be able to obtain aid for the first term(s) of this program.
- Apply for FAFSA again for the upcoming academic year (Fall through Summer).
You can use the same FAFSA link below for both submissions.
Federal Financial Aid
Degree-seeking students who cannot pay for tuition alone are encouraged to apply for
federal financial aid. Students must first complete the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA). The UNC FAFSA/financial aid page for graduate students has key dates and support, including the release date and deadline for each academic
year (a Fall-Spring-Summer cycle which begins each August).
Late submissions of the FAFSA are still accepted throughout the school year but you
may not be considered for the maximum amount of aid. If the priority deadline has
passed for the upcoming/current school year, we encourage you to apply for FAFSA consideration
as soon as you enroll for your first courses. Depending on the time of year, you may
be able to submit an application for the current academic year and an early/priority
application for the following academic year.
Master's degree students must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 credits per academic term for financial aid eligibility. Full time
enrollment is based on 9 credits per term.
To apply for federal financial aid assistance
Fill out the FAFSA form at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
For more specific help, contact the Office of Financial Aid: ofa@unco.edu, 970-351-4862 or via the UNC Financial Aid website.
Students can also find helpful information such as the Guide to Federal Student Aid
at https://studentaid.gov/resources. Most of the resources are available in English, Spanish and Braille.
Student Health Insurance
The University of Northern Colorado offers a Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP)
to all degree-seeking students who enroll in courses on our main UNC Campus, an Extended
Campus Center, or Online.
Degree-seeking graduate students enrolled in 6 or more credit hours will automatically
receive this benefit each term. SHIP premiums will appear on your semester bill. If
you have comparable insurance coverage, and do not want to be charged for SHIP coverage,
you must opt out of this plan each Fall via an online waiver process.
Please visit the UNC Student Health Insurance pages for more information about the insurance plan.
