Normally, we only admit students aged 18 or over to the BA program. The minimum graduation age for the program is 21. However, we may be able to make an exception if you are not yet 18 but already have teaching experience and second language skills. Please contact us to review your situation.
We may be able to transfer some credits earned while attending another college or university. The courses you took must be related to the arts, humanities, and/or sciences. Examples of subjects we may be able to transfer credits for are education, history, language, linguistics, mathematics, psychology, and science. Please email us a copy of your transcript so that we can determine which courses are eligible for transfer.
Credits may be awarded for attendance at meetings where training is given in public speaking, literature is analyzed and discussed, and/or lectures are presented about subjects such as ethics, history, and humanities. Credits awarded for such activities will be applied to the elective courses part of the program.
Please email us with a description of the meetings you have attended so we can determine if you are eligible to receive credits.
Yes. The CIE TESOL course (online or in-person) and the 120-hour upgrade course constitute the first module of the BA program (12 credits). These courses introduce core knowledge that is needed in other modules of the program. Whereas most TESOL/TEFL courses focus on English grammar and teaching theory, the CIE courses equip students to be dynamic teachers by training them to use 40 highly effective brain-based teaching methods. All BA students, including those that have earned TESOL/TEFL certification from other institutions, are therefore required to complete the CIE courses. If you have taken another TESOL/TEFL course, we guarantee that you will still benefit greatly from taking the CIE TESOL class, either in person or online.
Yes. The CIE TESOL course (online or in-person) and 120-hour upgrade course introduce core principles that are built on throughout the BA program. However, if you are waiting to attend the CIE course in person at a future date and would like to begin your degree studies now, we may be able to make an exception and allow you to enroll in the degree program now and begin working on the online courses. Please email us to arrange this.
A Bachelor of Arts (BA) is a bachelor’s degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, sciences, or both. BA students are given a broad education that encompasses a variety of subjects in addition to their major field of study. This allows students to tailor their education to their personal interests and career goals.
The Bachelor of Arts program is the equivalent of a 4-year BA program in the U.S. However, if you have already accumulated 2000 hours of teaching experience, and have sufficient second language skills, you may be able to finish much sooner. Most students complete the online part of the curriculum in about one year.
From the time of enrolment, students have 4 years to complete the program. As long as payments are up to date, students have access to all the course materials during this 4-year period. After 4 years, student accounts are subject to reactivation fees.
A total of 130 credits are required. Each part of the program has the following minimum credit requirement:
TESOL studies: 12 credits (CIE TESOL course and 120-hour upgrade course)
History of the Americas: 6 credits
Major field of study: 33 credits
Elective courses: 21 credits
Second language studies: 18 credits
Teaching practicum: 40 credits
Students with no prior second language skills complete this module by taking video courses in one, or a combination of, the following languages: Ancient Greek, French, Latin, Spanish. The video lessons are taught by award-winning professors. Each lesson is followed by a short test to reinforce learning.
If you have already learned a second language to conversational/intermediate level, you may be awarded 18 credits—the full amount necessary to complete this module.
You must provide one of the following:
No. A maximum of 18 credits can be awarded for second language skills.
You must accumulate 2000 hours of teaching, either full-time or part-time, in order to complete the teaching practicum module of the BA program. If you do not have the full amount of hours at this time, you may still enroll in the BA program and continue teaching while you work on the online modules. You may graduate once you have completed the required teaching hours, provided you meet the rest of the criteria.
Any experience gained teaching in a college, school, university, training company, volunteer organization and/or privately that can be documented may all be counted towards the 2000-hour requirement. The teaching can be in any subject related to the arts, ethics, humanities, languages, and sciences.
No. A maximum of 40 credits is awarded for teaching experience.
We will provide you with a form that your employer, or a representative of the organization you worked for, can use to document and attest to your hours.
This will also be acceptable as long as your teaching hours can be documented. We have a simple form that your students/clients can fill-in to attest to your teaching hours.
Some of our students are hired by companies on the condition that they are pursuing a degree qualification. If you need a letter confirming that you are enrolled in our program, please contact us and we will arrange this for you.
If you need help with one of the study units or have questions about the program, please don’t hesitate to contact us. A tutor will reply in a timely manner to assist you. When you research and write your thesis, we encourage you to remain in regular contact with your tutor, who will provide you with helpful suggestions. When you have completed the first draft, your tutor will review it and provide suggestions for improvement.
Our philosophy is to help you achieve the grade required to pass the program. If you score under 70%, we may ask you to retake certain units.
A Bachelor of Arts (BA), major in your chosen field of study (e.g. ancient history, education), minor in a second language or other field of study.
You can expect to receive your degree within 60-90 days once you have paid in full, submitted all the necessary documentation, and have completed all your study assignments. This time period is required for our partner university to evaluate your work and process your graduation.
This BA program is a four-year minimum combination of workshops, teaching experience, and online courses. Some graduates have mistakenly commented that they obtained their degree in just one year. In order to complete this program, however, students must accumulate 2000 hours of teaching experience, and intermediate second language skills. The amount of time invested in these activities, in addition to the workshops and online courses, is equivalent to four years of study.
Many of our graduates have used their degrees to secure employment in numerous countries. In recent years a large number of our graduates have successfully used their degrees to find employment with online teaching companies based in the U.S., China, and other countries.
As the requirements for teachers in different countries change regularly, and many schools have distinct requirements, we can offer no guarantees that the diploma will be universally accepted, even in countries where many of our graduates are currently teaching.
We do not recommend this program to those that wish to become teachers at public schools or universities. In our experience, public schools and universities require English teachers to have a degree from a university in an internationally well-known, native English-speaking country.
If you are considering the program because you would like to work in another country, please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information on how our graduates have faired in that country.
If you are planning to use your degree overseas, you will need to have your diploma authenticated. First, you need to ascertain whether or not the country where you are headed is a participant of the Apostille Convention: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members.
Countries that are Participants of the Apostille Convention
Authentication is a two-step process: notarization and Apostille.
U.S. graduates usually have their diploma notarized by a notary public in their home state, and then submit the notarized diploma to the Office of the Secretary of State in their home state for the Apostille Certificate.
Other Countries
Authentication is usually a three-step process: notarization, Apostille, and embassy legalization. As the process varies from country to country, please contact us for more information.
The Apostille is an official government issued certificate added to documents so they will be recognized when presented in another country. Typically, the Apostille Certificate is issued by the state from which the document originates although in some cases another state can issue the Apostille. Once a document has had an Apostille Certificate attached to it confirming the authenticity of signatures and seals it can be presented to any country which recognizes the Apostille. The authority receiving the document should then accept the seals or signatures as true and valid without requesting further evidence or proof.
Prospective employers can contact the university that issued your degree directly to verify your degree credentials. As CIE did not issue the degree, but only served as the education provider for the university, we are unable to provide verification.
If you are planning to use your degree in the Canada or the U.S., you may consider applying for a degree equivalency evaluation (also known as a credential evaluation) that confirms your BA is the equivalent of a BA issued by a Canadian or U.S. university. Please contact us for more information.
You can contact the university that issued your degree directly. The university will then inform you about the process and fees involved.
If you completed the bachelors and/or masters program when CIE was affiliated with a different university, and would like to transfer your credits to our current partner university, please contact us. We may be able to arrange for a complete transfer of credits for you.
Students can receive a refund within 30 days of their registration and payment. If a student has paid in full and chooses to cancel any time after 30 days, a refund will be pro-rated at $240 for each remaining unused month up to 12 months after registration.
Due to unexpected events or circumstances, students are able to put their account and payments on hold without cancelling, and may resume at a later date.
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