School of Education

Application Deadline

We will be accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year beginning on October 1, 2024 through Cal State Apply!

Prerequisites for Applying

1. Bachelor’s Degree
   If you have not yet obtained a bachelor's degree visit our undergraduate pathway programs page. 
2. GPA 2.67 overall or 2.75 for the last 60 semester units.
   A low-GPA appeals process is available.

Application

1. Review CSU Credential Application Deadlines
2. Apply to Humboldt with Cal State Apply (CSU)
3. Subject Matter Departmental Review
   This will be submitted to the Secondary Education program for review, and it will be considered in admission decisions. 

Program Requirements

The following must be completed before starting the program.

Start early on completing the Certificate of Clearance, fulfilling the subject matter proficiency requirements, as these take the greatest time commitment and are the most likely to be delayed.

1. Letters of Recommendation: 

   To be considered for admission, you will need to request 2 digital letters of recommendation to be submitted directly to Cal State Apply. Contact your potential references prior to entering their information into Cal State Apply. Academic and professional recommendation letters are both acceptable. It might be more pertinent for you to ask a professor to give you a recommendation if you are applying to the credential program right out of school. Whereas, if you've already been in the workforce for several years, having a professional colleague give you a recommendation might be more relevant. Once you have saved an electronic recommendation to Cal State Apply, an email request will automatically be sent to the recommender on your behalf. Please advise your recommender to look for this email in their inbox, as well as their spam or junk-mail folder, as emails do occasionally get filtered out. The recommenders will rate you on various scales as well as provide a short typed recommendation through the link.

2. Apply for Certificate of Clearance
   This process can take up to 6 weeks so apply early!
3. California Basic Skills Requirement (met through undergraduate degree)
4. Subject Matter Competency (typically met through CSET or qualifying undergraduate major)
   There are multiple ways to meet this requirement. 
5. Valid CPR Certification (must be adult, child, and infant)
6. 45 hours of Early Fieldwork
   Observe a California Credentialed teacher for a minimum of 45 hours
   -- Suggested to be grade level specific (secondary level) and in your subject area
   -- Must be in a contained classroom (not an after school program or summer camp)
   -- Observation has to be of a California credentialed teacher 
   -- Course fulfilling this requirement offered at Cal Poly Humboldt: SED 210/410
7. US Constitution Courses: All CSU graduates have met this requirement. You may have met this requirement through your undergraduate degree. If you did not, a test is required. If you are not a CSU graduate, contact Keshnee Naidoo, the Program Coordinator, at kmn67@humboldt.edu for information on how you will fulfill this requirement.

View all these requirements and more in our application requirements PDF.

Secondary Application Requirements PDF

After Completing the Secondary Education Program

After meeting basic credential requirements, you’ll be recommended for a preliminary credential through the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), which is valid for five years. Within the first three years of being hired as an educator, you will be required to participate in an induction program to clear your credential.