Yes. LEAPS is a living/learning community in which all students in the program spend their first year living, studying, and working together. LEAPS students are required to live at Marygrove in Detroit for both Fall and Winter terms of their first year.
Please see LEAPS, Detroit, & Marygrove: A Unique and Powerful Combination for more information about why living in Detroit at Marygrove is an important part of LEAPS. This resource also gives more background on the relationship between Marsal Education and Marygrove.
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. Students who wish to park personal vehicles must request a permit. Students should acknowledge that they operate their vehicles at their own risk. Students are responsible for their own parking in Ann Arbor and at other locations.
Traditional transcripts list only course titles and grades. A mastery-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.
Engaging in research is an important part of the LEAPS experience. All LEAPS students take a special research methods course in their 2nd year that provides specific insight into how and why research is conducted at the University of Michigan, and is designed to prepare LEAPS students for participating in research related to their concentration areas and community-engaged learning placements.
LEAPS students should NOT seek research placements in their first year.
LEAPS student engagement with research will begin in the 2nd year after completion of the special research course (EDUC 203).
Should I sign up for UROP?
No, LEAPS students should not sign up for UROP. UROP’s schedules will conflict with LEAPS students’ travel schedules, and the research opportunities they provide are not tailored for LEAPS.
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.
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:
All LEAPS students have an upper-division concentration. For those focused on teacher certification, your concentration is defined by the requirements of the Educator Preparation Program.
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 also that LEAPS students must apply to the Educator Preparation Program in Marsal to ensure compliance with all state certification regulations. The application process is simple, and will be made available after you start in LEAPS.
If you are interested in teacher certification but not in the Detroit- and community-focused elements of LEAPS, you should apply through the Educator Preparation Program.
Your degree will say “Bachelor’s of Education” and specify Learning Equity and Problem-Solving for the Public Good as your area of study.
Concentrations are not named on your diploma, BUT you will have the opportunity to describe your specific area of study using the Mastery Learning Record, a special competency-based transcript and portfolio.
Yes, all of the usual financial aid programs offered to U-M students, including the Go Blue Guarantee, are available to LEAPS students. We strongly encourage LEAPS applicants to complete both the FAFSA and the CSS profile to maximize aid availability.
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.
At this time, double majors with other schools or colleges (e.g., LSA) are not possible.
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, effectively applying to leave Marsal Education for another school or college at U-M.
It is important to remember that even if applying to transfer, all LEAPS students still must take all required first-year LEAPS courses. This is because, even if the transfer application is successful, you will still be a LEAPS student until the fall of your sophomore year. Failure to complete required LEAPS courses will result in a student being out of compliance with satisfactory academic progress in Marsal Education. If the transfer application is not successful and the student did not complete required LEAPS courses, the student will no longer be enrolled at U-M.
Any student considering transfer should consult with the Marsal Education Office of Student Affairs to learn more about the procedures and risks involved.
