Formal admission refers to the stage at which a candidate is fully accepted into a state-approved Educator Preparation Program (EPP) after meeting all required admission criteria. To be formally admitted, the applicant must satisfy every requirement listed in the Texas Administrative Code § 227.10 (such as minimum GPA, prerequisite coursework, content-area credit hours, basic skills, English proficiency, and any other programmatic benchmarks).

teachHOUSTON students must:

• Apply for formal admission,
• Be interviewed by program faculty or staff, and
• If accepted, will receive a formal offer of admission in writing (mail, email, etc.).
• The candidate must accept that offer in writing as prescribed in the formal admission letter.
• Once accepted, the effective date of formal admission will be the first day of the following academic semester, and the EPP is required to inform the Texas Education Agency (TEA) within seven days. This date marks the date of eligibility for exam completion.

Before formal admission, the candidate is not permitted to begin certain certification coursework, training, or exam approval processes (except in limited cases under “contingency admission”).

Students who meet the criteria provided in the programmatic benchmarks must complete the Formal Admission Application to initiate their certification process.

Read to apply to teachHOUSTON?

Note for Alternative Certification Candidates: You must complete a separate application for formal admission. Additionally, you are required to complete a minimum of 60 FBE hours after formal admission.

Create a TEAL account With the State of Texas (ECOS)

1. Go to pryor.tea.state.tx.us and create a username and password.
2. You are an "Educator" from a "University-based" program.
3. Please remember to enter your official information, and be sure to record down your TEA ID!
4. Be sure to share your TEA ID with the Certification Director at jnekeoba@central.uh.edu. They will need this to grant you approval for TExES exams.