How to Get a Teaching License in Iowa Through an Online Program: What I Learned Comparing Alternative Pathways
The stack of Iowa Board of Educational Examiners printouts teetered next to my 7-year-old’s half-assembled Lego Millennium Falcon on the kitchen table at 8:17 last January. I’d just finished grading second-grade writing papers after my paraeducator shift at Lincoln Elementary in Des Moines, and my husband was already in bed snoring. For five years I’d helped lead reading groups, covered classes when teachers called out, and untied more snow boots than I can count, but I still didn’t have my teaching license. I couldn’t quit my full-time job and take on five figures in new student debt for a traditional in-person program, so I started digging into alternative routes, specifically online options.
A couple weeks later, I met two friends for coffee at the Starbucks off 2nd Avenue to compare notes. Sarah, the third-grade teacher down the hall, did the traditional four-year education degree at University of Northern Iowa, then a post-bacc when she switched concentrations early on. She graduated with $17,000 in debt, and had to take an unpaid semester off to complete her full-time student teaching requirement. Back then, she had a 1-year-old at home, and her husband worked retail, so that semester nearly put them behind on their mortgage. That’s when I realized traditional paths weren’t built for people like me, who already have full-time jobs and family responsibilities to keep up with.
Mia, another para who got her license two years ago, went the online alternative route. She told me over our stale blueberry muffins that it worked for her because she never had to miss a day of pay. She already had a bachelor’s degree in psychology, which checked the main box for Iowa’s alternative licensure rules, so she only had to complete the education-specific coursework and her student teaching requirement. That’s the first thing I tell people now: if you already have a four-year degree from an accredited college, most online alternative programs in Iowa only require you to complete the 30-some credit hours of education coursework, not a whole new degree. That cuts the cost and time way down.
I spent three evenings cross-referencing programs I found on Google against the approved program list on the Iowa BOEE website, and that’s the most concrete tip I can give anyone starting this process. I almost put a deposit down on a cheap national online program that popped up first in my search results, only to find it wasn’t approved by Iowa’s licensing board. That would have been a $500 wasted deposit and six months of useless coursework. The BOEE’s list is public, free, and updated every year, so start there, filter for fully online options, and only look at programs on that list.
I compared three main alternative pathways while I was researching: the state’s teacher residency program, the local community college’s in-person evening alternative program, and the fully online post-bacc licensure program through the University of Iowa. The residency program requires a full year of full-time work in a classroom with a mentor, for a stipend that maxes out at $15,000 a year. That wasn’t feasible for me— I have a $1,200 mortgage and $800 a month in childcare for my 7-year-old, so I can’t survive on that kind of income for a year. The community college program was cheaper, but requires two evening classes a week on campus, which is a 40-minute drive from my house. I can’t leave work early enough to get there on time, and that would mean paying extra for aftercare every week, which adds up to thousands extra a year.
The online program I picked fits around my schedule. All the coursework is asynchronous, so I can watch lectures and write discussion posts after my kid goes to bed at 8:30, or on weekends when my husband takes our son to soccer practice. The total cost for everything— coursework, fees, the licensing application— is around $7,800, which is less than half what the in-person post-bacc program at UNI costs. I can take up to three years to finish if I need to, so I don’t have to cram 12 credits a semester if I have a busy few months at work or my kid gets sick.
The biggest misconception I hear about online teaching programs in Iowa is that you don’t have to do in-person student teaching. That’s not true. The state requires a minimum of 12 weeks of full-time supervised student teaching to get your license, no matter what program you go through. But the good thing about the online program I picked is that they let you complete your student teaching at the school you already work at, if your principal approves. Mine already signed off on it— I’ll do my 12 weeks in the second-grade classroom I already work in every day, so I don’t have to learn a new school, new kids, or new routines, and I still get paid my regular para salary while I do it. That’s a game-changer that no other alternative pathway offered me.
It’s not all perfect, of course. You don’t get the casual in-person connections with other student teachers that you get in an on-campus program, and you have to be really disciplined to get your work done after a long day of herding 7-year-olds. I missed a quiz deadline last month because I had to stay late for a parent-teacher conference night and completely forgot to check the course calendar. I had to email my professor to ask for an extension, which was awkward, but she was fine with it.
I start my first course in mid-August. My application is all filled out, my reference letters are in, and my kid drew a rainbow on the manila envelope holding my transcripts, which is taped to our fridge right now. I still don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with the work when we start the new school year, or if the online format will feel as comprehensive as an in-person program. But right now, this is the only pathway that fits my life, my budget, and my goal of having my own classroom someday. It’s slow, it requires a lot of late nights, but it’s moving me forward, and that’s enough for now.
Please indicate: Thinking In Educating » How to Get a Teaching License in Iowa Through an Online Program: What I Learned Comparing Alternative Pathways