Admission to the Teacher Education Program

When admitted to the College, all students who intend to pursue a teacher preparation program are identified by major and the certification area in which they are interested.  However, they are not yet admitted to the Teacher Education Program. All students who plan to pursue teacher certification are required to make formal application for admission to the Teacher Education Program during an application period that begins on November 1 of the sophomore year. Sophomores identified by the Registrar as teacher certification students will receive information about the application process from the Teacher Education Program office in October of the sophomore year.  Transfer students should consult with the Director of Teacher Education to determine when they should apply for admission to the Teacher Education Program. Messiah College reserves the right to deny any applicant determined to be unqualified for participation in the Teacher Education Program.

Admission requirements are established by the Teacher Education Committee in compliance with regulations from the Commonwealth of PA and the Messiah College Teacher Education Program.

Four major criteria are reviewed when a student applies for admission to the Teacher Education Program:

GPA/Academic Performance
Minimum GPA's of 3.0 (both cumulative and in the major) are required for admission. The GPA for the major includes all courses prescribed by the academic major and all courses required for PA teacher certification. Students can check these GPAs on their own degree audits on MCSquare.

Additionally, students must earn at least a "C-" in:

• First year seminar (or equivalent course)
• COMM 106 Foundations of Public Communication (or equivalent course)
• Two college level math courses
• American/British literature course. 
• All courses required for the major or teacher certification program

Any course listed above in which students earn a grade lower than "C-" must be repeated.

PRAXIS I Examination Scores
At the time of application, students must submit evidence of passing scores from the PRAXIS I Exam (PPST), administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS). For admission, scores must meet the standard established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. More details about the Praxis can be found here.

Character Clearances
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires that students who are preparing to become teachers must be "persons of good moral character." By Pennsylvania law, Act 114, students preparing to become teachers must provide the following clearances:

• PA Act 34 (PA Criminal Record Check)
• PA Act 33/151 (PA Child Abuse Check)
• FBI Background Check processed through the Cogent system as per Pennsylvania Department of Education requirements

All of these clearances have processing fees which are the responsibility of the teacher certification student.

Results of all three clearances must be submitted as part of the student's application for admission to the Teacher Education Program and may be dated no more than 9 months prior to the date on the application form.

Applicants are also screened by the College's Student Affairs and Registrar's Offices to ascertain that individuals are considered to be in good standing with each office and are in compliance with campus guidelines for personal behavior and academic integrity.