The education unit at St. Cloud State University is a member in good standing of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP), and is working toward accreditation of its educator preparation programs under the AAQEP standards. A Quality Assurance Review is anticipated in Spring 2023.
National accreditation is an evidence-based external review process that advances excellence, assures quality, and promotes continuous improvement in educator preparation. The accreditation process includes a review of evidence that our graduates are competent in their content knowledge and teaching methods, and that our programs and faculty are committed to ongoing improvement and enhancement.
In addition to the national accreditation process, our educator preparation unit and programs are approved by the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB). Every program must demonstrate that their course offerings meet the required content knowledge and teaching standards required by the state, in order to be approved by PELSB. The Board also reviews how well our students do on licensing examinations and other requirements. The overall educator preparation unit must also meet rigorous standards which include faculty qualifications, unit policies, procedures and infrastructure and the types of field experiences provided to students throughout their programs. The St. Cloud State Education Unit and all of our educator preparation programs are currently approved by PELSB.
Unit approval by the MN PELSB for six years is granted if the provider meets all the standards and requirements.
Individual programs are reviewed and re-approved every three years.