Admission requirements

Admission Requirements

Applicants to IARSAC International University who have declared an interest in education are admitted to a department in the College. All majors must meet the selective admission requirements for full admission into the College of Education in order to enroll in the professional sequence of the teacher education degree programs.

The admission process includes three steps:

a. Pre-Admission Review:

• Candidates must
• have prior experiences in the education field;
• complete the English and math lower-level fundamental studies (six credits) with a grade of "C-" or better;
• have passing scores on a test of basic skills as determined by the Maryland State Department of Education (currently Praxis CORE, SAT, ACT or GRE).
• earn 45 semester hours with an overall cumulative grade point average of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale;
• complete gateway and/or specialization or major requirements for the program area with a minimum 2.70 GPA, and earn at least a "B" in any Education course identified by the program as a specific gateway prerequisite;
• submit three letters of recommendation/reference;
• submit a personal goal statement that indicates an appropriate commitment to professional education and
• submit criminal history disclosure statement

b. Program Faculty review

The applications of the candidates who meet the above criteria and rate them on the following components:

• rating of recommendations,
• rating of application essay,
• rating for prior experience,
• overall GPA and
• GPA in gateway/specialization/major.

c. Minimum Cut Score

The College of Education sets a minimum cut score for eligibility based upon several factors, which include more not limited to instructional resource capacity of the program/college; availability of high quality mentors in the certification area, etc. Candidates meeting at least minimum cut scores are scheduled for interviews. Program faculty re-ranks candidates based on aggregate scores from the complete profile - i.e., the five factors in step 2 plus the interview. The highest ranking individuals using the aggregate score are offered admission.

In keeping with the undergraduate admissions policy, the College of Education will admit as many freshmen as possible as "pre-service" education majors. Internal and external transfers who have completed fewer than 60 credits and who have not yet met the standards required for enrollment in the professional degree programs also will be admitted as "pre-service" education majors.

For directly admitted freshmen, the above admission requirements will serve as the criteria for the early childhood, elementary, and special education or junior (secondary education) level review. For internal and external transfers, these criteria make up the "gateway." Teacher candidates who pass the sophomore/junior level review or the gateway will be admitted into the professional degree programs. Transfers with 60 or more credits will be granted permission to enroll as a pre-service major in education, provided they have maintained at least a 2.75 GPA and successfully completed the lower-level fundamental studies with a minimum grade of "C-" or better. These individuals will be given one semester to meet the requirements for admission to teacher education.