Online Practical Teacher Training (OPTT) + Master's Degree (M.Ed)

Students in the OPTT Program may elect to apply to the M.Ed. program. Students must meet OPTT admissions requirements and requirements of the M.Ed program.

Minimum Requirements for Master’s Applicants:

Apply to the Graduate School at USU: https://gradschool.usu.edu/apply/
3.00 GPA over the last 60 semester hours
Three letters of recommendation, preferably from university faculty who can speak to the student’s performance in courses and potential to successfully complete a Master’s program
All transcripts
Letter of intent describing career goals, research interests, and how the Master’s program
addresses goals/interests.

Master's Core is 24 credits; students will need 12 additional credits to get M.Ed. Three options for OPTT students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree:

Application to Master's	Teaching License	TSSP	Credits
Before beginning OPTT	After completing student teaching	After completing Master's degree	Up to 12 OPTT credits count as electives*
During OPTT (do not complete 2nd Bachelor's degree)	After completing student teaching	After completing Master's degree	12 credits of OPTT taken as Master's level credits
At the end of OPTT (complete 2nd Bachelor's degree)	After completing student teaching	After completion of OPTT program	Split form - see details below

Apply to the M.Ed before starting OPTT. Students could get a teaching license after student teaching. OPTT classes would count as electives in the M.Ed up to 12 credits.* Students would not qualify for TSSP stipend until they finished the Master’s Degree.
Apply to M.Ed while in OPTT. Rather than finish the 2nd BS, apply to Master’s in time for at least 12 credits of student OPTT classes to count as their Master’s electives* (students could enroll in Master’s level credits for their remaining time in OPTT). Students could get a teaching license after student teaching. Students would not qualify for the TSSP stipend until they finished the Master’s Degree.
Finish OPTT and get 2nd BS and get licensed. Apply for TSSP stipend. Apply for M.Ed at the end of OPTT. The OPTT program is 34-35 credits.
1. Option A: Do a split form for the 4-5 credits of OPTT that are over the 30 needed for a 2nd BS. Use the 4-5 credits plus 24 master’s core to total 28-29 of the 36 credits needed for a Master’s Degree. Students would need to take 7-8 credits of Master electives.*
2. Option B: Take enough elective credit during their OPTT program to bring the total number of 2nd BS credits to 39. Do split form and bring 9 credits to Master’s Degree. This brings the student to 33 Master credits. Students would just need 3 credits of Master electives to reach 36 needed for M.Ed.*

*electives count towards M.Ed only. Electives do not count towards two masters programs: Board Certified Behavior Analysis M.S. or Administrative Supervisory Licensure.