The College of Education offers majors with the teacher education program for students interested in licensure to teach in elementary and secondary schools, as well as a non-licensure major, Education Studies and Human Relations, for students who have goals in a helping profession or in education but do not wish to pursue classroom teaching.

First-year students must meet the admission requirements of a College of Education major, and the admission requirements of the College of Education (the same high school course and  Regent Admission Index (RAI) requirements that are required for College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).

Elementary Education

First-year students are admitted to the Elementary Education major if they:

• Meet the high school course requirements
• Meet the Regent Admission Index (RAI) score requirement—245 or higher for Iowa residents, 255 or higher for residents of other states

These students complete Teacher Education Program application requirements as a part of their first two semesters of coursework.

Secondary Education

First-year students who would like to teach in secondary schools (grades 5-12 or K-12) apply to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for a major in the main subject they would like to teach (for example, Biology, or Spanish) and "secondary education interest" as a second major. Students may apply to the Teacher Education Program and education major (for example, Science Education, or World Language Education) when they have earned 30 semester hours of credit and completed prerequisite courses.

Direct Admission to Music Education: First-year students who want to become music teachers apply to "music interest" as their first major, and "secondary education interest" as a second major. They complete a supplemental application and audition for the School of Music; students who are admitted and who have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher may be offered early admission to Music Education. Students who are offered early admission apply to the Teacher Education program -- requiring 10 hours of pre-admission school field experience and an essay -- in their first semester. Students who do not gain early admission may apply to the TEP later, as described under Secondary Education.

Education Studies and Human Relations

First-year students with ACT composite score of 21 or higher (waived for students entering Fall 2022)  and a final high school GPA of at least 3.00 are eligible for Direct Admission to Education Studies and Human Relations. First-year students who do not meet requirements for admission to the major may declare Education Studies and Human Relations Interest in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and later apply for Regular Admission to the major.

Regular Admission is available to students who have completed a minimum of 12 s.h. of graded coursework at the University of Iowa and who have a UI Cumulative GPA of at least 2.50.

Students may be admitted to this college without a test score.

International Student admission decisions are based on high school courses, GPA, and meeting the English proficiency requirement. ACT/SAT scores are optional but are encouraged for additional merit scholarship consideration.