Admissions

How to Apply

Learn more about the application requirements and process below.

You can apply to the program at any time during a given term and start coursework within days. Complete the work on your own schedule within a six-month window except for capstone classes. Please note that there may be a gap between when you apply and when you can register for courses in your first term in the program. We advise you to apply at least two weeks before you wish to begin coursework.

If you have questions, please contact us at tl-admissions@colorado.edu

Fall 2024

  August 15, 2024​: Application opens

  August 26, 2024: Course enrollment opens

  December 15, 2024: Application closes

  December 20, 2024: Course enrollment closes

Spring 2025

  December 15, 2024: Application opens

  December 23, 2024: Course enrollment opens

  May 1, 2025: Application closes

  May 9, 2025: Course enrollment closes 

Summer 2025

  May 1, 2025: Application opens 

  May 12, 2025: Course enrollment opens

  August 15, 2025: Application closes

  August 20, 2025: Course enrollment closes 

A complete application includes:

  1. Online Application
  2. International students may need to submit official scores from a test of English proficiency. Applicants should have at a minimum:

                     - a TOEFL score of 75 (internet-based),
                     - an IELTS score of 6.0​ or 
                     - a Duolingo score of at least 120.

  • After your application is submitted, request that the TOEFL testing agency report your official score directly to the University of Colorado Division of Continuing Education. The institution code for CU Continuing Education is B880. To report your official Duolingo scores, click "Send Results" from inside the application, then choose University of Colorado Boulder - Continuing Education. IELTS scores should be reported in the application. In addition, you must provide the following information to your IELTS test center when requesting that your scores be sent to CU Boulder (IELTS does not use school codes):

                     CE Records - Graduate Programs
                     Division of Continuing Education
                     University of Colorado Boulder
                     178 UCB
                     ​Boulder, CO 80309-0178

  • Test scores are not required for all international students. You are not required to submit test scores if your native language is English or if, within two years from your desired admission term at CU Boulder, you have completed at least one year of full-time study at either a U.S. college/university or at a non-U.S. college/university where English is the native language of instruction.
  • This program is fully online. Please note that international students are not eligible for U.S. student visas if taking fully online programs. International students who do not require a visa are welcome and encouraged to enroll in the program.

After you submit your application, you will receive a separate email with your student ID number and instructions for activating university accounts, as well as how to enroll in courses. You may enroll in as many classes across certificates as you can handle. However, each course in every certificate should ideally be taken in sequential order. Please remember that a certificate will ideally be completed over the course of one academic year.

Certificate conferral will occur once the required four courses are completed with a minimum grade of C in each course and a 3.0 cumulative GPA. You must be officially enrolled in the particular certificate in order to receive your credential; it is not sufficient to simply complete the required courses.

Transfer Credit

In order to receive a Teacher Leadership master's degree or a certificate, you must complete only program-designated classes. No transfer credit will be accepted.

How to Enroll

Once you are admitted to the program, you will receive instructions in a welcome letter on how to enroll in one or more courses.

Each certificate consists of four online courses. The first three courses are 2-credit asynchronous courses and the culminating course in all the certificates is the 4-credit online synchronous capstone course held in the summers.

We strongly encourage you to take the courses in sequential order as they were designed to build on each other. Enroll in the first course of the certificate you are interested in completing. If you believe you are able to complete two or more certificates concurrently, enroll in the first course of each certificate. You may enroll in as many classes across certificates as you can handle. Please remember that a certificate will ideally be completed over the course of one academic year. Certificate conferral will occur once the required four courses are completed with a minimum grade of C in each course and a 3.0 cumulative GPA.

Admissions Help 

Contact us at tl-admissions@colorado.edu for questions about the application process.

Participant Requirements

We require that students in this program are practicing educators with a previously established educational site. If you are a teacher and are currently not teaching, but feel you have substantial experience to draw on, this program may also serve you. You can make this program work with a range of field sites, from active classroom settings to after school program field sites. You need to have quality time “in the field” or material you can draw on related to teaching experience because the coursework in this program depends on practical application.