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If you are looking for the BECCA (early childhood) program, click here.

Who is Eligible?

The Bilingual Transition to Teaching Program is seeking mid-career professionals, paraprofessionals with bachelor's degrees, and recent college graduates who have never completed a teacher preparation program and who want to train to become bilingual teachers.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Have a desire to work with children
• Be committed to working with and advocating on behalf of English language learners
• Not be certified to teach*
• Possess at least a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in any field except education
• Have a minimum undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (preferred)
• Be fluent in English and Spanish (or a language targeted by the State)
• Have the ability to pass state certification exams (i.e. Basic Skills Test, Target Language Proficiency Test, etc.)**
• Be capable of meeting the requirements for admission into the Northern Illinois University Graduate School ***
• Be committed to teaching in a high-need school in a partner school district for at least three years
• Be a U.S. Citizen or legal Permanent Resident

* Holders of Type 29 certificates are eligible to apply, but their certificates must have at least three and a half years of validity still remaining.

** Test results for the Basic Skills and Target Language Proficiency tests are not required to apply, but all applicants are encouraged to take these tests as soon as possible. If a selected applicant is unable to pass these tests in a timely fashion, he/she will not be allowed to continue in the program.

***No applicant should complete the requirements for admission to the NIU Graduate School , including taking the GRE/MAT or TOEFL (if applicable), until he/she has been notified of acceptance and has attended the mandatory program orientation.