North Carolina gets a lot of attention for the concentration of doctoral students in its “research triangle” area, but South Carolina need not stand in the shadows. The state offers several graduate education, TESOL, ESL endorsement, and related programs that have placed in the top 10 lists of national ranking organizations, most notably with a Dean’s List mention by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) in 2013. In addition, South Carolina has hybrid and online options for graduate study or TESOL endorsement within a larger master’s program.
ESL Teacher Certification
All licensure is overseen by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE). The department’s Educator Licensure Manual states that it issues the following types of credential classification:
- Initial Certificate
- Professional Certificate
- Alternative Route Certificate
- International Certificate
- Intern Certificate
- Temporary Certificate
According to the SCDE’s Educator Services division, relevant Areas in Which Certifications Are Issued include:
- English as a Second Language
- English
- Middle Level Language Arts
- Middle School Language Arts
- Reading Clinician
- Reading Consultant
- Reading Coordinator or Director
- Reading Teacher
- Spanish
- Other Foreign Languages
Alternative Certification Options
The Program of Alternative Certification for Educators (PACE) recruits qualified applicants for its intensive program of study combined with paid classroom teaching. Participants must hold a bachelor’s degree with a major (or in special cases 30 or more semester hours) in the subject they want to teach. In some situations, PACE will also allow a student to obtain an equivalency statement from a university department chair in lieu of meeting the 30-unit requirement.
Master’s in ESL Programs
Directed toward already-certified teachers, Clemson University‘s education and endorsement programs are on the Honor Roll of the NCTQ in 2013. It offers a Master’s of Education – Literacy Teacher: K-12 Certification and ESOL Emphasis. Also making the 2013 Honor Roll of the NCTQ is College of Charleston‘s global education-oriented M.Ed. in Languages with concentration in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program. Furman University earned a spot on NCTQ‘s 2013 Dean’s List for hosting multiple strong programs in education. Finally, University of South Carolina has the unique distinction in 2013 of making the Honor Roll of NCTQ and also being rated fifth in the nation for its online graduate education program by U.S. News & World Report. They offer a TESOL Certificate Program. This is not stand-alone degree but rather a TESOL postgraduate certification track that students can incorporate into a broader master’s program at the university, typically a Master of Arts in Linguistics, Foreign Languages, Literature, English, or Education. Participants can opt for one of two tracks: K-12 Track, or EFL Track.