Graduate Requirements
Admission Requirements
IMPORTANT: The UW English Dept. is winding down the Graduate TESOL certificate. December 1st 2025 is the deadline for graduate students to enroll in the program. Any students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate before that date will be allowed to complete the program.
Application Process
Graduate students must utilize the Graduate Student Portal in MyUW to add, change, or discontinue any doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate. To apply to this minor or certificate, log in to MyUW, click on Graduate Student Portal, and then click on Add/Change Programs. Select the information for the doctoral minor or graduate/professional certificate for which you are applying.
Courses
Prerequisite Courses – can be taken any time
Foundation Courses
- English 314 Structure of English
- English 315 English Phonology
- English 318 Second Language Acquisition
Courses on Social Perspectives on English (One of the following four courses)
- English 316 English Language Variation in the U.S.
- English 414 Global Spread of English
- English 416 English in Society
- English 319* 3 cr. Language, Race, and Identity
*Students who completed English 319 can request for an exception to fulfill the Social Perspective requirement. Please send an exception requests to gellt@english.wisc.edu.
Required TESOL Graduate Certificate courses listed below must be taken for graduate credit
TESOL Foundation Course
- English 415 Introduction to TESOL Methods – must precede English 515 and 613-618.
Courses on Second Language Teaching
- English 515 Techniques and Materials for TESOL
- English 613-618 Choice among (3) one-credit TESOL Workshops
TESOL Certificate Completion Requirements
- 9 credits of required graduate level courses listed above along with all prerequisites and language requirements.
- A grade point average of 3.0 in all required courses except English 613-618, which is graded as Credit/No Credit.
- Teaching practice. This requirement is normally fulfilled by completion of English 515.
- All requirements for the Certificate in TESOL must be satisfied within three successive academic years.