Gate 1 - Admission to Program
Undergraduate students may seek certification in one of the following programs:
- Cognitive Disabilities & Learning Disabilities
- Learning Disabilities & Elementary Education*
- Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities & Elementary Education*
- Early Childhood Special Education
- Learning Disabilities Minor (MC-EA or EA-A)
*Students seeking certification in elementary or secondary education must follow an additional procedure for admission to the programs in the Department of Education Studies.
Application to Undergraduate Program:
Applications for department approval will be accepted in the Department of Special Education office twice a year with deadlines of March 1 and October 1 (if those dates are on the weekend, applications will be due the Friday prior). A recommendation for admission to program will be made by a faculty review committee.
Approval for admission to major and minor programs will be determined by competitive rankings. Objective criteria will be applied to rate the applicants. Students who are denied admission may request a meeting with the faculty review committee chairperson. Students will be provided their ratings and informed of the cutoff number for acceptance. Students may resubmit an application the following semester.
Students should be aware that in order to be recommended for the professional semester, they must have earned at least a B- in SPED 200, B- in specified "methods" courses, and a 2.67 grade point average on specialization courses. In order to be recommended for licensure, students need a minimum of a 2.75 grade point average based on a combination of all course work in the major, minor (where certifiable), and professional education courses exclusive of student teaching (see current University Catalogue, College of Education and Human Sciences for additional criteria).
If a student is put on academic probation after admission to program, they will not be able to take courses that require admission to program until their semester GPA is at or above 2.0. Students who remain on probation for two semesters or more will be dropped from the program. If a student is experiencing difficulty during the semester, they must meet with their advisor.
Prerequisites for Admission: (most will be shown on the degree audit)
- minimum 30 credits exclusive of education prefix
- Completion of SPED 200 (B-)
- Completion of SPED 205 (Pass)
- minimum 2.75 total and resident GPA
- Pass the PPST
Your application must include and be in this order:
- Admission to Program Applicant Information (available on our website)
- Resume
- Degree Audit - A current HTML version of degree audit (transfer students must submit an unofficial transcript)
- Letter(s) of Recommendation
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- one minimum, maximum of three
- must be written from people outside of the Department of Special Education
- must be on letterhead (where applicable)
- must be signed
- Evidence of Wisconsin Teaching Standards 1, 3, 9, and 10.
- Standard 1: Special Education Philosophy - Must read Guidelines.
- Standard 3: Provide your cooperating teacher's final evaluation from SPED 205.
- Standard 9: SPED 205 Essay. As part of your SPED 205 Final Exam, you will be asked one of a series of essay questions. Your responses will be kept and added to your Gate 1 application after you submit it. The SPED 205 final exam will be left in your application binder after the review period and returned to you when you pick up your application.
- Standard 10: Validation Forms that verify that you have additional hours of related experience beyond the minimum requirements of SPED 205.
Other tips:
- Make sure that the major identified on the information page, resume, and degree audit are all the same.
- Proofread your application for errors.
- Put your application in a 1" view binder.
- Put a title page in the clear cover that contains your name and the program you are applying for.
- Insert index dividers for Standards 1, 3, 9, and 10.
- Do not use plastic sleeves (except for letters of recommendation)
- See application example in department reception area.
- Your application will be returned to you except for the Information Sheet and resume.
After you have been accepted into a special education program and then wish to change your program within the department, you need to complete the "Change of Major Request" form which is available on our web page and submit by admission deadlines.
Online Forms:
