Our College of Education prepares candidates to teach early childhood and Kindergarten through grade 12. In addition to public school teaching, we also prepare candidates to teach in Lutheran schools and congregations in The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

The secondary education major program, in preparing you to meet Illinois State Licensure requirements, combines education courses from the College of Education with subject-area courses.

The Secondary Education program prepares you to teach 9th through 12th grade in a variety of urban and suburban education settings, including public and private high schools. You can graduate with an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) license to teach designated subject-area content: English/Language Arts, Biology, Mathematics, and Social Science-History.

As part of the secondary education major, you will learn educational theories and effective teaching practices, including how to design and implement curriculum. You will participate in extensive field experiences in diverse school settings, and complete a rigorous 16 week student-teaching internship where you will manage and teach a class of your own.

You will be trained by experienced educators who themselves are teachers with years of practical classroom experience. Our faculty understand the day-to-day challenges you will encounter because they have been there themselves. They strive to thoroughly prepare you for the realities you will face as a teacher.

Concordia-Chicago's location near Chicago provides access to a rich socioeconomic learning environment at the crossroads of urban and suburban communities. Originally founded as the Addison Teachers Seminary in 1864, the University has a 150-year track record of producing some of the most qualified teachers in the country.

More than a dozen CUC graduates have been recognized by the highly prestigious Golden Apple Foundation for outstanding teaching, which speaks volumes about the level of training you will receive.

• A completed admission application for Concordia University Chicago.
• Official transcripts of all college coursework from each institution you have attended.
• Foreign transcripts evaluated by a Concordia-Chicago-approved international credentialing service. Concordia-Chicago accepts evaluations from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE).
• A certified document pledging financial support for your first year of study and without any unexpected events, and enough funding from the same or an equally dependable source for the following years.
• Proof of graduation from a secondary school.
• A transfer verification form for students transferring from a school in the United States.
• Proof of English proficiency, via one of the following:
• A score of at least 72 (internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) — Concordia-Chicago’s DI code is 1140
• A score of 6.0 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
• Successful completion of Level 112 at an ELS Language School (ELS) or a certificate of completion of program from an English Language Institute (ELI), along with a recommendation of the program director
• Duolingo test with a minimum score of 95