IIhighereducationact

Pathways to TeachingIIhighereducationact
Under Title II of the Higher Education Act,
teacher preparation providers, including
institutions of higher education (IHEs) that
conduct teacher preparation programs andstate-approved teacher preparation programs
operating outside of IHEs, must annually collectand submit information to their respectivestates. States, in turn, submit annual reportcards on teacher preparation and credentialing
to the U.S. Department of Education.
Unless otherwise noted, the data in this booklet
reflect AY 2013-14 data reported through Title
II HEA by all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
American Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands,Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau,Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands. For more
information, go to title2.ed.gov.

Hello! I’m Sarah.

I am about to start down a pathway to teaching. What can I expect?

First, I will need to decide which type ofteacher preparation program I will attend.
What do I need to know?

2,137 Program Providers

Programs by Type
Alternative, IHE based
Alternative, not IHE based
Traditional
Traditional and Alternative

AlaskaHawaiiAmericanSamoaVirginIslands

GuamMarshallIslandsMicronesia

Northern
MarianaIslands

PalauPuerto
Rico

27,914 Programs

69%

21%

10%

IHE* based

IHE* based

not at IHEs*

TraditionalPrograms

AlternativePrograms

AlternativePrograms* Institutions of Higher Education2

464,250 Total Enrollees in Teacher Preparation Programs
85%

Traditional IHE based

6%

Alternative IHE based

9%

Alternative not at IHEs

Traditional programs are typically four-year
undergraduate programs and often attract
individuals who enter college with the goalof becoming a teacher. Traditional programs
prepare candidates with instruction inpedagogy as well as the specific contentarea they plan to teach.

Alternative programs often attract
individuals who already hold a bachelor’s
12%degree in a specific content areaand may
have prior work experience but are seeking
to switch careers. Alternative programs
often focus less on a specific content areaand more on pedagogy.

Top 3 Most Common
Admission Requirements

Supervised ClinicalExperience Requirements

1 Minimum GPA*
2 Transcript*
3 Minimum # of courses,
credits, or semester
hours completed** Requirements for entry into either 
Traditional or Alternative Programs

In most traditional programs,
candidates must complete 100 hours
of supervised clinical experience prior
to student teaching and 600 hours
of student teaching.
Most alternative teacher
preparation programs primarily
serve candidates who begin teaching
while participating in the program.
Alternative teacher preparation
program candidates may engage in aform of mentoring or induction support
as a part of the program instead of aprescribed number of hours.
3

I will also need to decide where to attend
my teacher preparation program.

Top 5 Teacher-Producing States

Percentage of total teacher
preparation program
completers nationwide

Top 5 Teacher-Producing States By Program Type4

Traditional

Alternative

Alternative

IHE based

IHE based

not at IHEs

1

New York 11%

1

Texas 11%1

Texas 50%2Texas 7%

2

New York 11%

2

New Jersey 11%3

California 6%

3

California 10%

3

Louisiana 3%

4

Pennsylvania 6%

4

Florida 8%

4

Georgia 3%

5Illinois 4%

5

North Carolina 6%

5Florida 3%

Organizations That Administer Alternative Routes
INSTITUTIONS OFHIGHER EDUCATION

Nearly all states offer alternative routes to ateaching credential. Alternative routes can beadministered by different types of organizations,such as nonprofit organizations or state
education agencies, or by various partnerships.

STATE AGENCIESFor Example
Some school districts partner with IHEs to offer
an alternative program that allows participants
to begin an internship or probationary teachingposition within the school district while taking
courses towards program completion at the IHE.
States approve the types of alternative routes
that may operate in their states, so the types ofalternative routes available vary by state.

NONPROFITSSCHOOL DISTRICTS

OTHER TYPE OFORGANIZATION

Providers That Enroll the Most Teacher Candidates
Traditional

Alternative Route

Alternative Route

IHE based

IHE based

not IHE based

AZ
20,262

FL739

TX
15,544

Enrolled inGrand CanyonUniversity

Enrolled in
University ofWest Florida

Enrolled in
A+ Texas
Teachers

AZ
9,104

TX
647

NJ
2,548

Enrolled in
Universityof Phoenix

Enrolled in
Texas StateUniversity

NJ Departmentof Education
Alternative Route5

How can I be sure to selecta high-quality program that will
best prepare me for the classroom?

Providers with At-Risk (AR) or Low-Performing (LP) Programs

2% of providers have anat-risk or low-performing
teacher preparation program
42 out of 2,137 providers

AR & LP Providers by Program TypeAt Risk
2%Traditional
Programs

1% Traditional
0% Alternative
IHE-based<1% Alternativenot IHE-based

Low Performing
2%Traditional
Programs

1% Traditional<1% Alternative
IHE-based
0% Alternativenot IHE-based

Out of 1,484 traditional providers, 24 had AR programs and 18 had LP programs
Out of 451 alternative IHE-based providers, 0 had AR programs and 1 had LP programs
Out of 202 alternative not IHE-based providers, 1 had AR programs and 0 had LP programs.
6

States That Have Never Identified Any Programs as AR or LPAlaska

NH

MTHawaii

NDVT

MN
PalauID

SD

Micronesia

NVGuamMAWI
PANE
UTCOWVNJDE
DCMarshall Islands

AZ

Northern Marianas

ARNM

Virgin Islands
American Samoa

AKPuerto Rico

States Identifying AR or LP Programs in 2015
AlaskaWA

HawaiiPalau
Micronesia

IAIN

Guam

KS
Marshall Islands

OKNorthern Marianas
Virgin Islands

NYMICTOH

KY
SCTX

American Samoa
Puerto Rico

7

Once I enroll in a teacher preparation program, I will
have plenty of company. What do I need to know
about the pool of teacher candidates I will be joining?

Teacher Preparation Program Enrollees
464,250

76% Female

24% Male

Gender of Enrollees by Program Type*
100%

77%
70%

Traditional IHE based

66%

Alternative IHE based
51%

49%

23%

30%

Alternative not at IHEs
34%

K-12 Students** Source (K-12 data)
National Center for
Education Statistics,
Digest of Education
Statistics
Female Enrollees
8Male Enrollees

Trends in Enrollment Compared to K-12 Students

K-12 Student
Enrollment*

49,360,982

49,484,181

49,521,669

50,262,751

50,420,532

49,265,572

Teacher
Preparation
Program
Enrollment

719,085

725,529684,801
630,808* Source (K-12 data)
National Center forEducation Statistics,
Digest of Education
Statistics

500,129464,250'09 –'10'08 –'09'10 –'11'11 –'12'12 –'13'13–'14

Race/Ethnicity of Enrollees by Program Type*AmericanIndianAsian or PacificIslanderBlackWhite

Hispanic

Multiracial

73%
Traditional IHE based

63%

Alternative IHE based

56%

Alternative not at IHEs
K-12 Students*

21%
15%
1% 1%
1%

1%

3% 4% 3%
5%

9%

11%

15%

18%
2% 2% 2%

16%

26%

50%

3%
9

I’m not just looking for a degree; I want to teach.
How likely is it that I will make it through myprogram and earn an initial teaching credential?

National Pass Rate Comparison to Other Professions*

96%

86%*
59%*

Teacher

56%*

LawyerDoctor

CPA* Please refer to the back of this book for source information

Teacher Preparation Program Completers by Program Type
Alternative Programs at IHEs
Alternative Programs not at IHEs

180,7447%

10%

Total Program
Completers
83%

Traditional Programs
10Teacher Preparation Program Completers by Subject Area
Traditional

Alternative*

Alternative*

IHE based

IHE based

not at IHEs

23% Elementary Education

15% Elementary Education

11% Elementary Education

9% Special Education

12% Special Education

8% Special Education

8% Early Childhood Education

6% English/Language Arts

8% Early Childhood Education

5% English/Language Arts

6% Mathematics

5% Mathematics

4% Mathematics

5% Early Childhood Education

5% English/Language Arts

4% English as a
Second Language

5% Social Studies

4% General Science

3% General Science

3% English as a
Second Language

3% Social Studies* Alternative programs prepare a higher proportion ofteachers in high-need subjects, including STEM subjects.

High-need subject areas are in bold

Total # of Teachers Earning an Initial Credential

78% In State*22%
Out of State*254,272
Total Teachers
Credentialed* 78% of individuals earning an initial credential completed theteacher preparation program and earned the credential in thesame state. 22% of individuals completed the teacher preparation
program in one state and earned the credential in another.
11Trends in Teachers Credentialed and Program Completion

329,074
309,817

315,423
325,556
313,201

310,097

307,332

280,342

282,112
256,487 254,272
259,236

229,065

223,781205,506

231,765

222,103191,208

236,592
248,042
221,439 219,321
216,630
201,676

186,205

191,418
180,744'00-'01 '01-'02 '02-'03 '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 '07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10 '10-'11 '11-'12 '12-'13 '13-'14# of Teachers Credentialed# of Teachers Credentialed is not available# of Program Completers

12Sources
National Pass Rate Comparison to Other Professions (p10)Lawyer
59% of individuals taking the bar examination passed in 2015.
http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files/Bar-Examiner/
articles/2016/BE-March2016-2015Statistics.pdf
Doctor
86% of individuals taking the general pediatrics certifying exam
for the first time passed in 2015.
https://www.abp.org/sites/abp/files/pdf/abp_esic.pdf
Certified Public Accountant
The Uniform CPA Exam scores each of four sections of the exam
separately. Pass rates for each section of the exam ranged from
46% to 56% in 2015.
http://www.aicpa.org/becomeacpa/cpaexam/
psychometricsandscoring/passingrates/pages/default.aspx

https://title2.ed.gov

Data as of May 19, 2016.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education.
Higher Education Act Title II Reporting System (2016).

Data as of May 19, 2016.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education.
Higher Education Act Title II Reporting System (2016).

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