Current Accreditation
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) was created by the consolidation of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) and is currently the sole nationally recognized accrediting body for educator preparation. In April 2018, the College of Education was recognized for national excellence in educator preparation by meeting new, rigorous CAEP national accreditation standards.
National accreditation ensures that your studies in the College of Education are of the highest standard, backed by expert faculty, and built on in-depth clinical experiences. The University of South Carolina was the first university in South Carolina to seek accreditation from NCATE and has maintained this national standard since 1969.
The College of Education, as a unit, consists of all teacher education programs in the College of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Music.
For the 2016-17 academic year the College of Education had:
- 93% Praxis Exam Summary Pass Rate for 2018-19 graduates
- 97% of 2018-19 graduates felt they were “well prepared” in overall job preparation
- 93% of 2018-19 graduates were recommended for licensure
- 2018-19 graduates have a mean GPA of 3.77
- 548 graduates in 2018-19:
- 198 bachelor’s
- 203 master’s
- 103 doctorates
- 20 specialists
- 24 certificates
- 98% of program completers within the last 3 years indicated that they ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that their initial licensure preparation program held high expectations of professionalism for them as a future educator.
- 93% of 2018-19 initial education licensure graduates indicate that their program prepared them for their role as a teacher.
- 92% of 2018-19 initial education licensure graduates indicate feeling prepared to teach students with diverse (race, gender, culture, socioeconomic)
- 87% of initial education licensure graduates maintain careers in education 5 years post-graduation
- 96% of 2018-19 initial education licensure graduates say our courses and instructors were most helpful in preparing them to enter the field of teaching
- 92% of advanced program graduates agree that their program provided them with in-depth knowledge of their specialty area(s)
- 100% of our programs are recognized/recognized with condition by the following professional associations:
- American Council on the Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
- Council on Exceptional Children (CEC)
- International Literacy Association (ILA)
- National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
- National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
- National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
- Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI)
- National Association of Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
- National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE)
- Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE)
- Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)
- Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
- Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC)