While you can find a complete list of prerequisites on our website, below are some of our most common eligibility questions and situations we hear from applicants. You may have the same questions—and the answers might surprise you!

I am not a recent college graduate.

Not a problem! We welcome people of all backgrounds, ages, and experiences to apply to the corps. In recent years, about thirty percent of our corps have attended graduate school or worked full time before joining Teach For America. We find that our professional applicants have valuable real-world skills that translate well into the classroom.

I graduated with a 2.49, but the GPA requirement is a 2.50.

Our GPA requirement is mandated by the school districts and credentialing programs with which we work, and we have no way of working around this requirement. So, unfortunately this would make you ineligible for the corps. We take this requirement seriously and mandate that all applicants have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.50 when they apply and also when they graduate (no rounding up allowed). Additional undergraduate courses completed after your official graduation date cannot be used or averaged in.

However, if you’ve attended graduate school and graduated with a 3.50 or above, you may qualify for our GPA waiver. Learn more on our Eligibility page.

I graduated with a degree in physical therapy, foreign language, art history, etc.

Excellent, we accept applicants from every academic background—really! You name it, one of our corps members probably majored in it. We accept applicants from all academic majors and backgrounds to attract a broader pool of excellent teachers and future leaders into education. We believe that a great teacher can come from any background!

I’m already a certified teacher.

Certified teachers can definitely apply to the corps. While we don’t require any previous education coursework or teaching experience, a background in education can serve as an asset in the classroom. You’ll still have to participate in summer training, but if you’re certified in your assigned region, you may not have to take certification exams or complete any additional coursework. If you’re placed in a different region, we’ll work with you on the details of certification reciprocity or additional testing.

I’m not a U.S. citizen, national, permanent resident, or recipient of deferred action.

District requirements mandate that all of our applicants be U.S. citizens, nationals, lawful permanent residents, or authorized to legally work in the United States through a category that does not require employer sponsorship.

You are not eligible to apply if you are in the United States with a student visa, exchange visa, work visa, or tourist visa. If you’re invited to join the corps, you’ll need to provide legal documentation that verifies your identity and citizenship status. If you don’t meet this requirement, you may be eligible to join one of our partner programs through Teach For All.

I have a family and won’t be able to relocate.

You can certainly apply if you have kids, and we’ll do our best to make sure you won’t have to relocate. When you apply to the corps you will select where you'd like to teach. We recommend that you select only one region, and our Admissions Team will do their best to accommodate this preference. Granted, sometimes we’re limited by the needs of your preferred region and where/what you’re eligible to teach, but we’ll work with you to try and meet you and your family's needs.

I will be abroad during the interview window.

We understand that applicants live across many locations, which is why the final interview is conducted virtually. In order to participate in a virtual interview you must have secure internet access and a webcam.

I won’t graduate by June.

Teach For America requires that all applicants possess a bachelor’s degree by the start of our summer training program (between early and mid-June), which varies depending on your assigned region. Having a bachelor’s degree by the first day of the summer training is a requirement because corps members teach summer school in a public school system during this time. Corps members are also placed in teaching positions in their assigned region throughout the spring and summer.

If you’ve completed all of your coursework for your undergraduate degree but are still waiting to have your degree conferred, normally we can work with you to get the necessary documentation from your school to verify that you are eligible. If you still have coursework to complete after June though, you will not be eligible for this year's teaching corps. 

I have a summer conflict that interferes with the summer training requirements.

Summer training generally includes a mix of virtual and in-person sessions. As a general rule of thumb, once corps members begin they can expect to have weekday commitments from that day forward until the beginning of the school year. 

If you have a conflict that is earlier in the summer, you may want to preference regions with later training dates. If you know now that your conflict would require you to miss more than one day of every region’s training schedule, then you will not be able to join this year's corps.

Still have questions? Check out our FAQs or check out the Help Tool on the Applicant Center.