Admission Requirements
- A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- Minimum 2.75 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) from most recent degree.
- Valid and current Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) (i.e., early childhood, elementary, secondary, special K-12, or special preschool-age 21 certificate) OR endorsed in a school support personnel area (i.e., school counselor, school psychologist, speech language pathologist (non-teaching), school nurse, school social worker, school marriage and family counselor).
- Completion of two years of PK–12 full-time teaching OR school support personnel experience within the last five years.
- Passage of the Illinois Test of Basic Skills (ITBS)/ Test of Academic Proficiency (TAP). ACT or SAT scores may be eligible to be used in lieu of these tests.
- Two letters of recommendation (completed by supervisors).
- Two NEIU Disposition Assessments (completed by supervisors).
- Successful completion of a written exam provided by the department.
- Completion of a successful teaching OR school support personnel portfolio.
- In-person interview.
How to Apply to the Program
If you would like to be admitted to the program, begin by completing an application for and obtaining Northeastern Illinois University’s graduate student-at-large (SAL) designated status. This status allows you to enroll in up to three courses without full admission to the College of Graduate Studies and Research. Students admitted as an SAL then take the program’s first introductory course, LEAD 424 (Introduction to Evaluation of Certified and Support Staff), and complete the graduate program application with the assistance of the course professor. The Download the SAL application.
