Undergraduate Secondary Education Program prior to Fall 2024
PLEASE NOTE: Beginning Fall 2024, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has established new certification structures for teachers to provide new Middle School (grades 5th-9th) and High School (grades 7th-12th) grade bands. If you began taking courses for a Secondary Education program in Spring/Summer 2024 or earlier (i.e. prior to Fall 2024), you may continue to follow the old Secondary program structure. See the program information below on this page for Secondary majors.
If you began a Secondary Education program in Fall 2024 or later, please refer to the current Secondary Program Options (for students beginning Fall 2024 or later).
Secondary Program Options (for students beginning Spring/Summer 2024 or earlier)
To earn Secondary Teacher Certification, all GVSU students must complete the Education major through the College of Education and Community Innovation, and subject area majors/minors through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Courses in this program meet Michigan Department of Education requirements for Secondary Education.
In the subject area majors and minors, students learn content and pedagogy in the specific subject areas they wish to teach. Faculty engage students in discipline-specific teaching and learning, opportunities for research and scholarly activity in the disciplines, experiences in area classrooms and the community, and study abroad programs.
The Education major is designed for students seeking certification at the Secondary level. Students in the Education program can earn certification to teach in grades 6th-12th. In the Education major, novice teachers are prepared to address the child's whole needs; use relevant, research-based criteria to establish a supportive, engaging environment that fosters learning, and use practices that meet individual learners' needs. Students complete structured field experiences embedded throughout the program.
Subject Areas for Secondary Education Majors and Minors
Note that most Education majors/minors require students maintain a 2.70 GPA or higher, unless otherwise noted.
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Secondary Education Standalone Majors |
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Social Studies (Secondary) (3.0 GPA) |
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Visual Arts Education (K-12) (3.0 GPA) |
Courses
A list of Education courses may be viewed on the Education programs’ Course List page.
Information on the courses for each subject area for the old Elementary program can be found by searching GVSU's 2023-2024 Catalog.