For years, the requirement to teach dual enrollment classes included a master’s degree with 18 credit hours in that discipline.
LSUS is offering a different path to teach dual enrollment English courses with its new graduate certificate offered this fall.
This Graduate Certificate in First Year English consists of 18 credit hours, which includes three core courses in how to incorporate college writing into high school English classes and another three elective courses of master’s level English classes.
The Louisiana Board of Regents is sponsoring the initial 12 slots in a teacher cohort as dual enrollment plays a key role in increasing the number of students who attend college.
Tuition and fees are covered for this first cohort, meaning participants will bear no cost for the program.
“The certificate is very specifically designed for teachers who are currently teaching English III or English IV classes and are supported by their principals to gain qualification to teach dual enrollment,” said Dr. Elisabeth Liebert, who heads LSUS’s dual enrollment program as an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. “This is a very novel approach to credentialing dual enrollment teachers because it’s not just a bunch of graduate hours in English.
“It’s specifically designed to prepare teachers to understand the challenges of dual enrollment and how other dual enrollment models have either met those challenges or fallen prey to them.”
The three core courses of the certificate are offered in a hybrid format. The classes meet once a week on Wednesdays (6-7:45 p.m.) with another 30 percent of the class in an online format. The format of the three elective courses depends on the specific course.
To begin the application process, visit the LSUS Admissions webpage, submit transcripts, and submit a letter of interest from the applicant and from the applicant’s principal.
The deadline to apply as a member of this cohort is July 31 with successful applicants notified Aug. 6.
Because the Board of Regents is trying to expand dual enrollment opportunities to schools who currently don’t offer dual enrollment English classes, English teachers at those schools will have priority in admission in the first cohort.
“The state’s top priority is to reach rural and Title 1 schools, or schools that don’t currently offer dual enrollment classes,” Liebert said. “But we’ll certainly consider candidates from other schools as well as many of our current partner schools have expressed interest.”
The certificate includes guest speakers who are current dual enrollment teachers and a practicum portion in which participants observe college writing classes.
In the design of this certificate, Liebert conducted surveys of teachers who don’t have master’s credentials and of dual enrollment teachers about what best prepared them to teach dual enrollment classes.
“The biggest obstacles stopping teachers from getting a master’s degrees is time and money,” Liebert said. “This program is faster than a master’s, and with the Board of Regents generous support, this program is offered at no cost to participants in this first cohort.
“Our goal is to increase the number of dual enrollment teachers in our area to assist in expanding opportunities for college credit to more students.”
While the certificate program is currently limited to English dual enrollment teachers, Liebert said math is another area that could be added in the future.
LSUS has experienced explosive growth in its own early college programs, most of which is through dual enrollment. Dual enrollment classes are classes taught in high school that meet college academic rigor and align with the institution’s learning outcomes.
LSUS taught 564 students in its early college programs in 2024-25, which has nearly doubled in three years. Its number of dual enrollment teachers for this coming year increased by at least 50 percent, which will yield more students.
“We’re expecting an increase in dual enrollment students even before we qualify these new teachers in this cohort,” said Liebert, who added that LSUS’s dual enrollment growth mirrors that across the state. “But this isn’t about finding more dual enrollment teachers just for our needs – we want to more teachers certified to meet the growing demand for dual enrollment for all of our area schools.”