Graduate Certificate in English

To teach college-level dual credit classes in the State of Texas, high school teachers must hold a graduate degree (Master’s or PhD) and have eighteen graduate hours (six courses) in the teaching field. The online dual credit teaching certificate program gives students who hold graduate degrees in fields other than English the eighteen graduate English hours required for certification; it concurrently gives them credentials required to teach English in two-year colleges in the State of Texas.

The dual credit teaching certificate program allows students to

• work with specialists in literature, rhetoric and writing disciplines,
• complete the eighteen-hour program online,
• finish the program within fourteen months, and
• apply up to twelve hours of coursework from the eighteen-hour program to a full MA degree in English at Sam Houston State University.

Students applying for the English dual credit teaching certificate program at Sam Houston State University must submit the following materials:

• A  completed Apply Texas Application
• The graduate application fee of $45.00
• Transcripts for all college-level work, one of which shows conferral of a graduate degree (Master’s or PhD) from an accredited institution (students preferred graduate GPA of 3.4)
• A brief letter of purpose addressed to Dr. Diane Dowdy, stating the professional intentions for applying to the certificate program

Transcripts should be sent to the following address:

English Dual Credit Teaching Certificate Program
Graduate Admissions Office
Sam Houston State University
Box 2478
Huntsville TX  77341-2478

Application Deadlines
For Summer admission: May 1
For Fall admission:  August 1
For Spring admission: December 1

Application for MA Degree Program

Students who are accepted into the English dual credit certificate program and later wish to apply to the MA program in English in regular admission status must submit application materials required of all MA applicants, including a new graduate application form, three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample. Because the student has already earned a graduate degree, she or he need not submit GRE scores.

Students enrolled in the English MA may complete the certificate as part of the MA degree plan. Students who enroll only in the certificate, may (if accepted for degree candidacy) subsequently apply up to 12 hours of graduate English credit earned in the dual credit certificate program to the MA degree. As such, if the student plans to pursue the English MA at Sam Houston State University, he or she should apply prior to completing 12 hours of graduate credit.

The Department of English requires that a student complete a graduate degree within six years of the term of matriculation. A certificate student who subsequently pursues the English MA has six years to complete the degree from the first term of enrollment in the dual credit certificate program.