How to Apply to the Urban Teachers Program - College of Education

Undergraduate Applicants

Only degree-seeking students enrolled at UT Austin are eligible to apply for the Urban Teachers undergraduate certification program. Applicants should have a minimum GPA of 2.5 in an accepted major. If you have questions about the application process, your eligibility, choosing a subject area or how your major qualifies for the program, contact us at utut@utexas.edu.

Call the College of Education’s Office of Student Affairs at (512) 471-3223 to schedule an appointment with the Urban Teachers liaison to review your timeline, address coursework recommendations and learn about the program.

STEP 1

Submit your application and essay online through the Professional Development Sequence application (EID required) between January 19 and March 1. Your essay should be approximately 500 words long and double-spaced. Be sure to:

describe your understanding of the dynamics and importance of linguistically and culturally diverse learning contexts and your future role as a classroom teacher
reference personal and professional experiences as well as any scholarly work that has influenced your decision to become a classroom teacher through the Urban Teachers program
mention what content area you would like to teach: English Language Arts or Social Studies/History

Follow the applications’ directions to create a TEA account and receive a TEA ID number.

NOTE: you should be applying for the program in the spring of your junior year at UT.

STEP 2

You will receive an email from us once your application is received. At this time, you will apply separately to Breakthrough Central Texas.

Please do not apply to Breakthrough Central Texas before receiving an email from us with specific details related to our program!

Master of Education Applicants

All applicants will apply through the University of Texas Graduate School. Go to the How to Apply page for information about applying to graduate school.

Please note that the University of Texas Urban Teachers Program requires fieldwork in area schools. To undertake that fieldwork, school districts require that you pass a criminal background check. If you do not pass a required background check, you will be unable to complete the required work of the academic program. Failure to pass the background check will result in the cancellation of our offer of admission.