Frequently Asked Questions

The building is open 7 am to 9 pm Monday through Friday. Faculty, staff, and students of the Marsal School can gain entry 24 hours a day with an active MCard.

At this time, the Marsal Family School of Education does not offer degrees that are fully completed online. However, the Marsal School offers free and affordable, high-quality online courses/programs that do not require admission to the University. Those who successfully complete the MicroMasters in Educational Innovation and Improvement and are admitted to the Marsal School can be granted advanced standing that will reduce the credit-hour requirements for a master’s degree in Educational Studies.

The Marsal School understands that students applying to our programs will have COVID-affected grades and we will not consider those grades a weakness in any student's application. Just as we have seen with the preK-12 students and teachers with whom we work, this crisis unequally affects our population. We understand that there are numerous reasons students may not wish to unmask grades this semester, and we are supportive of the University's decision to establish grading as they have. We are looking for a diverse population of students to become our nation's educators.

Questions about residency can be answered by the U-M Office of the Registrar.

LEAPS leads to a wide range of learning-focused careers, and teaching is one possibility! Within the four years of your LEAPS program, it is possible to earn teacher certification in the following areas:

• Elementary (PK-8)
• Secondary English Language Arts (5-12)
• Secondary Social Studies (5-12)
• Secondary Math (5-12)

If you are interested in pursuing K-12 teaching as part of LEAPS, it is critical that you work closely with an academic advisor to ensure you are selecting the right courses as electives that will count towards your certification.

Note that LEAPS is a separate program from the more traditional Educator Preparation Program at Marsal. If you are interested in teaching but not in the Detroit- and community-focused elements of LEAPS, you should apply through the Teacher Education Preferred Admissions (TEPA) Program.

Note also that when you apply to LEAPS, you are applying directly to the Marsal Family School of Education, and are not being admitted to the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). When you apply to the TEPA program, you are also applying to LSA. 
 

At this time, double majors with other schools or colleges (e.g., LSA) are not possible. 

The program organizes scheduled transportation to and from Ann Arbor, and to program sites around Detroit. Additionally, LEAPS first-year students are allowed to park personal vehicles on the Marygrove campus, though parking is limited and must be permitted and students are responsible for their own parking in Ann Arbor and at other locations.

Yes, this is a living/learning community in which all students in the program spend their first year living, studying, and working together.

Yes, all of the usual financial aid programs offered to U-M students, including the Go Blue Guarantee, are available to LEAPS students.

Yes! We encourage broad exploration for LEAPS students, including in cities around the world. The LEAPS curriculum is flexible, and a semester abroad during junior year is easy to fit into the program.

At this time, LEAPS is only accepting first-year students. In the future, we may amend this policy to accept transfer students and will provide updated information at that time.

LEAPS is a program within the Marsal Family School of Education. Students who wish to leave LEAPS for a program in another school or college at the University of Michigan must apply as a cross-campus transfer student (this is how students apply to upper-division majors in other schools or colleges currently).

Traditional transcripts list only course titles and grades. A master-based transcript describes what you know how to do, and provides examples using a portfolio. A mastery-based transcript gives you an edge in appealing to potential employers and graduate schools, giving them a window into your capabilities that goes well beyond the traditional transcript. LEAPS students will receive both a mastery transcript and the traditional U-M transcript.

For current University of Michigan students interested in secondary teacher certification, it is possible to stay in your current unit and receive your degree through that unit while obtaining teacher certification through the Marsal School. Secondary teacher candidates electing to do so are responsible for meeting both the degree requirements for their home unit and certification requirements through the Marsal School. In some cases, those requirements can and do differ. For example, a math major in in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts has slightly different coursework requirements and teacher certification requirements, in terms of coursework, and is responsible for understanding those different requirements and fulfilling both.

The university’s GRE code is 1839.

The only graduate program that requires teaching experience is the Doctorate in English and Education.

The program you are in will determine whether or not you can complete the degree part-time. Some programs are on a fixed schedule to degree completion, which makes it difficult to complete a degree on a part-time basis. Others are more flexible. Please consult your program to learn more about your options.

No. Graduate students in the Marsal Family School of Education come from diverse educational backgrounds.

Time to degree is determined by many variables, including which doctoral program you enroll in and the methodological approach of your dissertation. However, the average time to degree across all Marsal School doctoral programs is roughly six years. The Joint Program in English and Education sets a goal of five years to work within the School of Literature, Science, and the Arts' ten term rule for funding.

No. Although some advanced doctoral students (those beyond their coursework) do, on occasion, complete their dissertations after reentering the workforce. This decision is made in consultation with the dissertation chair.

No. While being published in a peer-reviewed journal is an excellent example of the skills you will need to be a successful doctoral student, it is not a requirement for admission.

No. It is not a requirement that you reach out to faculty in advance of applying. Please indicate at least one faculty member that you are interested in working with in your application materials. Part of the application process may include an interview with faculty whose research interests align most closely with your own.

No. At this time, special education is not among the many endorsement areas we offer. Please visit the complete list of endorsement areas for elementary teachers and secondary teachers.

Secondary Teacher Education
The secondary teacher education program prioritizes learning about issues of diversity, inclusion, justice, and equity in teaching. We aim for all interns to experience teaching and learning in a variety of school contexts and become effective teachers of students from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, interns are placed in a range of clinical experience placements that require travel as much as 45 miles from the Marsal School.

Interns are responsible for their own transportation to and from their placement sites and should keep this expense in mind when calculating their educational expenses. It is expected that interns have independent reliable transportation to ensure their ability to adequately access the schools with whom we partner for clinical experiences.