For the paraprofessional, teacher assistant, or childcare worker already devoted to children. Your principal nominated you because they believe you are ready.
A Gracelyn Success Coach will walk you through the program, answer every question, and help you decide with confidence, before you commit to anything.
A Success Coach will reach out within one business day.
You show up every day. You know which students struggle. You know which ones light up when someone takes the time. The question is not whether you care. It is whether you have the credential and preparation to lead your own classroom and multiply that impact.
As a paraprofessional, teacher assistant, or childcare worker, you have something most education students do not: real daily experience with real children. You have seen what works and what doesn't. You have built the relationships. The BTED program builds your credential on top of that foundation, not from scratch.
You care as much as any certified teacher in your building. But without a degree, there is a ceiling on the impact you can have, the role you can hold, and the salary you can earn. The children who trust you deserve a teacher with full preparation. So do you.
What would it mean to walk into your own classroom, with your name on the door, fully prepared and credentialed to serve every child in front of you? Not assisting someone else's vision. Leading your own. That is what the BTED program is designed to produce.
When you think about the children in your care right now, how many of them do you feel like you are not fully reaching? And what would it mean for them if you could?
The educators who transform children's lives are not always the ones who came through traditional teacher pipelines. They are the ones whose principals watched them closely enough to say: this person is ready for their own classroom. Your nomination is that recognition. This program is what comes next.
Before we designed a single course, we asked people just like you what they actually needed. Every course builds on the experience you already have and prepares you to lead your own classroom with confidence.
Not theory developed at a distance. Practical skill, grounded in evidence, ready for the first day your name is on the door.
Have you ever watched a child struggle to read and not known exactly what to do? The Science of Reading gives you a precise, evidence-based answer for every student — struggling readers, students with characteristics of dyslexia, and advanced learners alike.
What about the student with an IEP who needs more than you currently know how to give? Or the child whose first language is not English? BTED equips you with specific, evidence-based strategies for every learner in the room — not a general approach, but the right one for each child.
Build curriculum, plan lessons, and design assessments that are coherent, differentiated, and aligned to standards. Know not just what to teach but how to sequence it so every child builds on what they know.
Understand the social, emotional, and cultural dimensions of how children learn. Reach students whose backgrounds, experiences, and needs require a teacher who sees more than academic performance data.
Create and sustain a learning environment where every student feels safe, known, and challenged. Apply evidence-based classroom management that enhances engagement and reduces barriers to learning.
Integrate a biblical worldview into how you understand the dignity of every child, the calling of a teacher, and the purpose behind every lesson. Not as an add-on. As the foundation everything else is built on.
The final four courses of BTED are not classroom courses. They are supervised field placements in real PK-12 schools. You will not just demonstrate what you know. You will demonstrate what you can do, with real children, before you earn your degree.
Observation and participation in a PK-12 classroom (90 credit hours required)
Extended supervised participation in a PK-12 classroom
Continued supervised teaching practice in a PK-12 classroom
Final supervised teaching placement. GPA of 3.0 or better required.
They were already in the building, already devoted to the children. Someone saw it. They said yes. Here is what changed.
The BTED program is not a generic education degree. You choose the pathway that fits your calling and your classroom. Each pathway prepares you for certification in that specific area.
Your Success Coach will help you identify the pathway that best fits your calling and your current school context.
Foundation first. Specialized teaching skills second. Field application third. Every course is sequenced intentionally, because becoming the teacher each child deserves is not a checklist. It is a progression.
Across 6 content areas, sequenced intentionally from foundation to field.
Full bachelor's degree, aligned to national teaching standards.
Supervised classroom experience in real PK-12 schools before you graduate.
Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary ELAR, Math, Science, Social Studies, Special Education.
Gracelyn created its institutional scholarship because a financial barrier should never be the reason a calling goes unanswered. No application fee. No enrollment fee. Books included. A 0% interest payment plan. For most nominees, the scholarship rate applies.
Scholarships are institutional awards and are not guaranteed to all applicants. Eligibility is determined during the admissions process. Monthly payment plans may be available to eligible students. All tuition and fees subject to change with appropriate notice. Gracelyn University does not participate in federal financial aid programs.
You do not have to feel fully ready. You just have to be willing to take one step. A 15-minute conversation with a Gracelyn Success Coach will give you everything you need to decide with clarity, no pressure, no obligation, just honest guidance from someone who understands this calling.
Your Success Coach will confirm your scholarship eligibility and walk you through exactly what your investment looks like before you commit to anything.
Request information and start your conversation.
The BTED program is not for everyone, and that is by design. It was built for the person who is already in schools, already building relationships, already giving everything to the children around them, and is ready for the credential to lead their own.
A principal, superintendent, HR director, or childcare director who has observed your work nominates you and attests to your readiness. If you have not yet been nominated, your Success Coach can help you think through that conversation.
No bachelor's degree required to apply. No entrance exam of any kind. This program is designed to be the first degree for people who are ready to earn it.
As a paraprofessional, teacher assistant, childcare worker, or other educational support role. Your real-world experience is part of what makes you ready.
A brief reflection on why you want to teach, who you are committed to serving, and what you believe a great teacher gives to every child in the room.
The person we are looking for is already showing up for children every day. These are not qualities we develop from scratch. They are qualities we recognize, formally equip, and credential.
If the people around you would describe you this way, you belong here.
Children trust them. Colleagues come to them. Families feel seen by them.
The nomination surprised them. That is often the clearest sign they are ready.
Not just the easy ones. They carry specific children in their minds after school.
Does the right thing for children consistently, without waiting for recognition.
Their influence does not come from a title. It comes from who they are.
They feel the gap between what they can do now and what they want to give.
You do not have to figure this out alone. Here is exactly what the path looks like from where you are right now.
You are already holding the first step. Schedule a call with your Success Coach. No commitment. No obligation. Just an open door.
A real person, an experienced educator who understands this calling, will call you within one business day. They will answer every question, confirm your scholarship eligibility, and help you decide, before you commit to anything.
Complete your application and invite your principal, director, or supervisor to submit the nomination letter. If you do not yet have a nomination, your Success Coach will help you think through that conversation.
Start the coursework that prepares you to lead your own classroom, fully equipped, credentialed, and confident. Fully online. Built for working adults. With a Success Coach beside you every step.
Gracelyn University is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA. Your degree carries national credibility.
Every course in the BTED program is aligned to recognized standards for teacher preparation, ensuring your credential is respected by districts, schools, and certification bodies.
Before you graduate, you will complete four supervised field experience placements in real PK-12 schools. Your degree is not theoretical. It is proven in practice.
Every BTED student has a dedicated Success Coach who walks alongside them from enrollment through graduation, and for two years beyond. You are never navigating this alone.
Every course is fully online and designed to fit inside the life of someone who is already serving children. You do not have to choose between the classroom you are in now and the one you are working toward.
Gracelyn was built for people exactly like you. Not for traditional students. For the devoted, experienced, faith-rooted educator who already knows what it means to show up for children and wants the formal preparation to do it with a classroom of their own.
Before we designed a single course, we asked the people already doing this work: what do they actually need? The answer shaped everything, from the curriculum to the scholarship to the Success Coach model.
Your principal said your name because they have watched you closely enough to believe you are ready. We built this program to prove them right.
You did not choose to work with children because it was easy or because it offered recognition. You chose it because children matter, and you knew you could make a difference in their lives.
Your principal has been watching. They said your name because they have seen enough to believe that what you do naturally, with the right preparation and a degree behind it, could transform what is possible for an entire classroom of children.
That classroom is not waiting for the most ambitious applicant. It is waiting for the most trusted one.
Every year this decision waits is another year the children that need you most fall farther behind.
A Success Coach will reach out within one business day.
