Teacher Candidacy

The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires that undergraduate students in teacher certification programs meet specific requirements in order to take upper-level education courses. At Kutztown University, we refer to these requirements as teacher candidacy or candidacy. For questions about candidacy, please contact the COE Support Center at COEsupport@kutztown.edu.

Requirements for Candidacy

All of the following requirements must be met for candidacy approval:

Minimum 48 credits completed. Can be KU credits and/or transfer credits.
Minimum 3.0 GPA. The KU GPA is used if a student has been at KU for at least one semester. The GPA from a previous institution is used for students transferring in 48+ credits who do not have an established KU GPA.
A grade of C or higher in the following courses:
- 1 English composition course
- 1 English literature course (see qualifying courses below)
- 2 Math courses

Qualifying literature courses

Subject	Number	Course Title	Gen Ed Category
ENGL	101	World Literature I	D
ENGL	102	World Literature II	B
ENGL	105	Experiences in American Literature	B
ENGL	106	Experiences in British Literature	D
ENGL	109	Rebel Hearts: Explorations of Irish Literature	D
ENGL	110	Introduction to Literature	D
ENGL	116	Weird Fictions: Ten Cent Plagues, Video Nasties, and Other (Un-) Popular Cultures	D
ENGL	126	American Sports & Contemporary Texts	A4
ENGL	127	Current Themes in English: Ghost Stories	D
ENGL	132	Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Literature	D
ENGL	137	Experiences in African American Literature
ENGL	141	Literature and Film	D
ENGL	142	Gothic Literature	D
ENGL	145	The Fairy Tale	B
ENGL	155	Disabilities and Literature	B
ENGL	171	Friendship in Western Cultural Texts	A4
ENGL	175	Archetypal Women in Myth and Literature	D
ENGL	223	Games and Literature	A4
ENGL	229	Literature and Psychology	B
ENGL	238	African Diasporic Literature
ENGL	244	Nineteenth Century Studies: Prose 1840-1890
ENGL	249	Edgar Allan Poe: Gothic Horror, Detective Fiction, & Journalism	D
ENGL	254	German Literature in English Translation II
ENGL	271	Native American Writing and Rhetoric	B
ENGL	272	Women and Violence in Contemporary World Texts
ENGL	274	Women, Writing, and Rhetoric
ENGL	278	Women Writers Around the World
ENGL	317	From Science to Séance: Pseudoscience & Spiritualism in 19th Century Literature
ENGL	323	Native American Women Writers
ENGL	331	Shakespeare's Earlier Plays
ENGL	332	Shakespeare's Later Plays
ENGL	339	New Media, Story, Change
ENGL	340	Romantic Movements
ENGL	341	Introduction to Afro-Caribbean Literature
ENGL	368	Postmodernism

Notes:

A course towards candidacy must receive a grade of C or higher. A C- grade cannot count.
Any two math courses can count toward candidacy. However, be sure to check for any math requirements that are specific to your major. For example, some majors require two math courses numbered 17 or higher. See your major's checksheet for details.
The above list of qualifying literature courses consists of ones commonly or recently offered at KU, but it is not an exhaustive list. The general rule is that any course with the word "literature" in its title and/or course description can count.
Some literature courses can double-count towards Gen Ed requirements. See the above list.
The COE Support Center reviews students for candidacy each semester after grades are posted.