Office of Teacher Preparation

Changing a life forever is the daily work of a teacher.

At CNU, you can earn a BAEd in Elementary Education or, with our five-year plan, you can earn your bachelor’s degree and, then, in the final year, complete graduate-level professional courses leading to the Master of Arts degree (MAT) in your chosen endorsement. Both the undergraduate and graduate MAT program include a 14-week teaching internship, which is required for a Commonwealth of Virginia teaching license. If you already have a bachelor's degree, you can also complete the MAT in one to one-and-a-half years.

Learning Outcomes

• How to plan, deliver and assess instruction to meet state and district objectives.
• How to build a nurturing learning environment.
• How to be a professional through your interaction with students, their families and other educators.

Support & Opportunities

Advisers work closely with you from your first day on campus to map your education studies.

Our partnership with award-winning Newport News Public Schools opens the doors to valuable experiences close to campus. You can tutor in Newport News schools while enrolled in the Teacher Preparation Program and even get paid for substitute teaching. The Teacher Preparation Program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), and 48 additional states accept the Virginia teaching license.

After Graduation

Graduates of Christopher Newport’s teacher preparation program are sought after for their teaching skills and content knowledge. In addition to public-school teaching, graduates are well prepared for a variety of professional settings, such as teaching in private schools, museums or historical foundations, private tutoring companies, and training facilities and corporations that design lessons and curricula.