Educate. Celebrate. Urban.

You’ve always wondered whether you would make a good teacher. You’re dedicated, competent, caring, curious, and committed to lifelong learning. The profession of preparing young adults for education, careers, and life intrigues you. You see the compelling realities faced by students in today’s urban schools and you believe you could be part of a solution. The University of Michigan-Flint’s  Detroit Teacher Project is ready for you.

The project's signature program is the Master of Arts with Secondary Teacher Certification (MAC) program, which is a master’s degree for aspiring teachers who have a bachelor’s degree in a certifiable major through the State of Michigan. The full-time program is taught completely on site in six Detroit-area high schools with experiences in those high schools throughout the two-year program. Graduates of the program receive their master’s degree and are eligible for teacher certification in Michigan.

Watch our video of students and teachers currently working in the Detroit Teacher Project.

What Sets UM-Flint's Education with Secondary Certification (MAC) Program Apart?

Focus:

• UM-Flint’s Master of Arts with Secondary Teacher Certification (MAC) is an innovative, clinically-based program designed to prepare you for a career encountering the unique challenges and rewards of teaching in the small urban high school environment.

• The program is full-time, 46 credit hours, completed over 2 years. Its cohort format provides a specific path to completion and a support structure of peers.

• Its focus is on clinical, experience-based learning intended to explicitly link theory with practice through immersion in the school environment.

• You’ll begin the program by working alongside experienced teachers, gradually increasing your opportunity and responsibility for teaching over the duration of the program.

Flexibility:

• As a secondary teacher certification program, it is designed to prepare those who do not have undergraduate degrees in education but aspire to be a high school teacher.

• The robust emphasis on field experience is coupled with seminars offered in a mixed-mode format (both online and in-class).

Resources:

• The program is taught on-site, within small urban high schools in Detroit where you’ll be immersed with expert university and high school faculty.

• The field-based setting is an invaluable context to fully acclimate to this challenging academic environment and to build a sense of community with your instructors, students, and peers.

Results:

• You will be highly prepared to teach with particular skills in the urban environment.

• The need for secondary teachers prepared to teach in the small urban high school setting is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade.

• Michigan Future, Inc. has been given money to start up seven additional new high schools before 2012 and looks to open 35 more schools by 2018 (Detroit Free Press, March, 6, 2010).

• You will have a distinct advantage in finding long-term employment within a growing network of small urban high schools.

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a major certifiable by the Michigan Department of Education

• Minimum overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale*.

*Undergraduate grade point averages below a 3.0 may be considered for probationary admission.

Application Process

To be considered for admission, submit the following to the Office of Graduate Programs, 251 Thompson Library:

• Application for Graduate Admission

• $55 application fee (non-refundable)

• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended

• Résumé

• Three letters of recommendation

• International students must submit additional documentation. Visit www.umflint.edu/graduateprograms/admissions/international-students.page for details.

Once all documents have been received, a face-to-face interview will be scheduled with you by the Education Department.

Application Deadlines

The program has rolling admissions and reviews completed applications each month. Application deadlines are as follows:

• Fall (early deadline*) – May 1

• Fall (final deadline) – August 1

*You must apply by the early deadline to be eligible for scholarships, grants, and research assistantships.

International students are required to apply by May 1 for the fall semester.

Catalog Description:

Detroit Teacher Project Video:

Kenya Williams

Graduation Year: 2012

Hometown: Flint, MI

As a student in the MAC program, I believe that I am receiving the best education possible. I say the best, because I have seasoned professors who have been educated at some of the top universities in the nation. They take teaching and learning seriously and they want to pass along their wealth of knowledge and standards of education to their students.  They are well informed about the subject, and in turn challenge and push me to be a critical and independent thinker.