Graduation

Students must apply for graduation several months prior to the expected date of graduation. You can apply online, by clicking here. Check with your advisor to make sure you have met all the requirements for graduation. If you discover that you will not be able to graduate as planned, you must reapply for the next graduation (see dates below). In order to graduate, all stops on your record must be cleared, including bursar, library, financial aid, etc.

Please note the following application periods:

For February Graduation

Apply between July 1 - November 1

For June Graduation

Apply between November 1 - March 1

For September Graduation

Apply between April 1- July 1

Certification 

How do I apply for State certification?

The process of applying for certification consists of 2 parts: the student's responsibility and the College's. You must file an application with NYS through their TEACH Online Services application system. You can do this by downloading the Student Information Sheet from the Certification Office website and following the steps carefully. The College's responsibility is to submit an electronic recommendation on your behalf, which is done once the Childhood Education Program completes a degree audit and submits it to the College's Certification Officer, Mr. Kurt Brown.  This is generally done around the time of graduation (February, September, and June), after all grades are in for the most recent semester. Once both pieces of information are in the State system, an evaluation will be done. If all items are satisfied, the State will issue the certificate, and you will appear in the State system as certified. You will not receive a printed copy of your certificate for time limited certificates such as the initial. If you applied for the professional certificate, a physical copy should be mailed out immediately and you would normally receive it within a couple of weeks.

What if I want to apply for certification before I’m ready to graduate?

You need to fill out a Recommendation for Certification Form and hand in a hard copy to the Childhood Education program assistant in NAC 4/217. See the next page for deadlines.

Recommendation for certification form for candidates who entered the program prior to Fall 2011.

Recommendation for certification form for candidates who entered the program after Fall 2011.

Be aware that you may fill out this form before receiving grades for your final courses for certification. We will conduct a preliminary certification check and once the grades are in we will put the paperwork through.

The deadlines to submit this form are the same as the graduation deadlines:

July 1 for a recommendation to be sent in September
November 1 for a recommendation to be sent in February
March 1 for a recommendation to be sent in June

What State certification exams do I have to take?

For New York State certification in Childhood Education, candidates must pass the LAST, ATS-W, and the CST-Multi-subject.  Please note that these requirements are set by the State, not by City College, and are subject to change. Check the New York State website for more and current information.  Passing these exams is not a requirement for graduation, but they are required for State teaching certification. 

Where can I find more information?

You can find instructions for the Teach Online system here: 

Student Information Sheet

What are the program codes that are needed for the TEACH Online system?

Note that students in Childhood Education (Streams A, and B) have different codes:

GRADUATE STUDENTS
Childhood Education

Stream A: The program code for Stream A is 25906

Stream B: The program code for certification prior to the completion of the full Master's degree is 31918.  However, students will also be recommended for the professional certificate after completing the Masters program and should use the 25906 program code to apply for professional certification in Childhood Education

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Childhood Education:
Regular CCNY and CWE students: 25922
Joint Degree Students: 28378

Please contact the College's certification officer, Mr. Kurt Brown in NAC 3/213 ( educertification@ccny.cuny.edu), for more information or with questions about certification.