Located in Johnson City, Tennessee, East Tennessee State University offers a graduate TESOL certificate -- called the Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language -- through its College of Arts and Sciences. The certificate's 18 credits include 15 credits of required courses and three credits of electives. East Tennessee's program prepares people for teaching ESL in foreign countries and U.S. settings such as adult education programs. The university suggests a combination of the ESL certificate with a master of arts in English for those who wish to teach at community colleges.
The University of Maryland Baltimore County in Baltimore also offers a TESOL certificate, but at the post-baccalaureate level. It can be completed by taking two graduate-level and two electives. A more extensive program exists through the 36-credit master's degree, which is a joint venture of the university's departments of education and modern language and linguistics. Courses include Intercultural/Cross-Cultural Communications, Second Language Acquisition and Learning: From Theory to Practice, and Methods and Techniques in Teaching English as a Second Language. Both programs can be completed in a physical setting or online.
Housed in the Graduate School of Education is the University of Pennsylvania's master of science in education program in TESOL. It is a 36-credit program with courses such as Educational Linguistics, Sociolinguistics in Education and Second Language Acquisition. Students of U. Penn's TESOL program can substitute a 30-hour service project and internship for three credits.
The University of Southern California, through its Rossier School of Education, offers a master of arts in TESOL. Students are required to complete at least 31 credits, split among four categories: Foundations, Teaching Methods, Language and Literacy, and Field Experiences. Courses include Understanding the Social Context of Urban Schools, Teaching in an International and Intercultural Context and TESOL Pedagogy. Students have the choice of taking the program face to face with instructors or enrolling for the online format.