Educators develop great minds. We develop great educators.

There’s more than one way to become a teacher, and we offer a flexible mix of online and in-classroom opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students alike. Our teacher preparation programs include yearlong internships, linked placement, a residency program and other innovations to get our candidates into classrooms early and often.  

For students with bachelor’s degrees in fields other than teaching, our Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) programs are the first step in becoming an educator. Graduates of these clinically based, 1-to-2-year programs leave the NCE prepared to launch a career: They’re entitled to apply for Illinois state licensure, and over 95% of our graduates pass the challenging edTPA exam on the first try.