Catholic School Educator Online Graduate Certificate

• Applicants may apply for admission to master’s degree and graduate certificate programs at any time during the year.
• Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution and maintained an overall grade point average of 2.75 on a 4.00 scale.
• Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and aspire to teach in a Catholic PreK-8th grade class setting.
• Applicants must have a current relationship with a Catholic school to participate in the student teaching experience.

Students with transcripts from universities located outside of the United States unless the foreign transcripts come from an institution located in a waiver country listed here are required to take and pass English Proficiency testing.

Saint Mary’s accepts: 

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum score of 4 (formerly 72)
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a minimum score of 6.0 
• International Test of English Proficiency (ITEP) with a minimum score of 4.0 
• Pearson Test of English with a score of 51 
• Duolingo with a minimum score of 105.

Your application must include the following:

1. A completed application form 
2. An official transcript(s) issued to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota from the institution posting the applicant’s completed bachelor’s degree and other relevant transcripts documenting program prerequisites and potential transfer credits. An official transcript is one that is sent to the university by the credit-granting institution.
3. Must aspire to teach in a Catholic PreK–8th grade class setting
4. Must have an existing relationship with a Catholic school to complete the student teaching experience
5.  A personal statement which includes:
   1. brief description of the applicant’s background, training, and experience; and,
   2. statement indicating the career goals of the applicant and his or her reasons for seeking admission to the program and,
   3. personal information the applicant wishes to share.
6. Names of two people (including title, organization, email, phone number) who could serve as professional references, if needed, during the application review process. The best references are those who know you in a professional capacity, such as current or former supervisors.
7. A current résumé listing educational background and work experience.

You have two possible options for obtaining official transcripts:

1. Order official transcripts from all institutions yourself.
2. Saint Mary’s can order and cover the cost of transcripts from institutions that allow third-party requests for eligible degree-seeking applicants. Contact your enrollment counselor for more information.

Transcripts from countries other than the U.S. must be evaluated on a course by course basis by a university accepted evaluation service, such as World Education Services, Educational Credential Evaluators, Educational Perspectives, One Earth International Credential Evaluators or any approved member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES.org) and be deemed equivalent to accredited U.S. university standards.

Official Transcripts should be sent to Office of Admission: 

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
2500 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Or electronically: tcadmission@smumn.edu 

Please reach out with any questions about the application process.

Phone: (612) 728-5100
Toll-free: (866) 437-2788 
E-mail: tcadmission@smumn.edu

• Fall Semester – August 1

The priority application deadlines are listed but these are general as not all of our programs have a start every semester.

You can expect to be notified about your acceptance approximately two weeks following your application completion date.