TAP Frequently Asked Questions

No. You must be employed as a para educator with instructional responsibilities for grades birth-6^th grade..

No. You must be employed as a para educator for a minimum of 8 instructional hours per week with grades birth-6^thgrade to begin the program.

No. This means that you will need to be employed as a para throughout the program.

Not at this time. The program is currently approved for individuals working in a Kansas school that is accredited/licensed through KSDE or KDHE.

You will not need to quit your para educator job to complete student teaching. Candidates in this program complete their clinical experience in an accredited Early Childhood Center or K-6 elementary school with an approved mentor teacher. Based on a minimum enrollment of 4 academic semesters, a TAP candidate completes a minimum of 1900 clinical hours while in this program. During the last semester, you will complete the performance assessment required by KSDE Licensure requirements. Currently this is the Teacher Licensure Capstone (TLC). You can find more information here.

1.  View our degree plan of options online. Plans of study will differ depending on the amount of credit hours a student has already completed when they start the program.
2. Students can begin this program with 0 college credit hours.
3. For an unofficial transcript evaluation please send unofficial transcripts to us via email at parapath@wichita.edu. We will look those over and send you our evaluation of how those credits will transfer and what your plan of study would look like.

Students can still use scholarships and additional financial assistance in this program. You can find information on the financial aid application process here. You can find information about scholarships here. There are also scholarships available for majors in College of Applied Studies and you can find information about those scholarships here. The Kansas Board of Regents also offers scholarships and you can find information here.

1. Since our program will include curriculum in Early Childhood Unified (ECU) and Elementary Education you have the choice of licensure after completion of this program, The Teacher Licensure Capstone and passing scores on licensure exams. You can choose from the following: 
   1. Early Childhood Unified (Birth - 3rd Grade)
   2. Elementary Education (K - 6th Grade)
   3. Early Childhood Unified AND Elementary Education (Birth - 3rd Grade, K - 6th Grade)
2. If you have any questions or want more information on licensure, you can contact our Licensure Officer, Tierney Mount at 316-978-6949 or at tierney.mount@wichita.edu.
3. Visit the TAP Licensure webpage.

We admit students each academic semester (Fall/Spring/Summer). In order to be accepted into our program and enroll, you must complete all of our TAP admission requirements listed on our website.

You must have an overall AND institutional (WSU) GPA of a 2.0 in order to be accepted to our program. If you do not meet this requirement or have questions on this, please contact a College of Applied Studies Advisor at 316-978-3300, option 2.

We do not require ACT/SAT or PRAXIS exams scores in order to be admitted to our program.

1. The Limited Apprentice License is a license that you can apply for (if you meet all of the qualifications) in this program in order to be hired as a classroom teacher (teacher of record) while you complete the remainder of the program.
2. This Limited Apprentice License is only valid in Kansas. If you have any questions or want more information on licensure, you can contact our Licensure Officer, Tierney Mount at 316-978-6949 or at tierney.mount@wichita.edu.

You can apply for the Limited Apprentice License after meeting the following qualifications. 

1. Offered a position as classroom teacher (a person with great potential; based on needs of the district)
2. Completed at least 60 college credits,including one semester of WSU Approved Courses if you hold a previous Bachelor’s Degree; OR one academic year if you do NOT hold a previous Bachelor’s Degree
3. Candidate must have a minimum cumulative 2.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale on REQUIRED WSU professional coursework in the relevant program of study.
4. Candidate must maintain continuous enrollment in the relevant approved Wichita State College of Applied Studies Program (i.e. TAP Program).
5. Documented performance for candidate on teaching evaluation measure (KEEP) as required by Wichita State College of Applied Studies. Candidate must achieve a rating of EFFECTIVE or higher overall on the Summative KEEP Assessment during the semester of application.
6. Satisfactory performance on disposition evaluation.

*all qualifications must be met prior to application for license