California State University, Northridge will launch programs in fall 2022 that will expedite the process for getting a credential for those who are interested in teaching history and social science in middle or high school.

The Four-Year Integrated (FYI) and Junior-Year Integrated (JYI) History Subject Matter Programs in CSUN’s Department of History offer the possibility for students to get their bachelor’s degree in history and a preliminary teaching credential at the same time.

“So many of our students know that they want to be teachers, but find achieving their dreams daunting,” said history professor Patricia Juarez-Dappe. “We wanted to see what we could do to make the process easier, and that led to the creation of the new programs. So, we worked very closely with the Department of Secondary Education and the Credential Program to make this happen.”

Juarez-Dappe pointed out that the traditional route to getting a job teaching history or social science in middle or high school involves first getting a bachelor’s degree, and then spending another one or two years earning a preliminary teaching credential.

“Those additional years can be intimidating for some students,” she said. “There’s financial pressure to get a job as soon as you’ve earned your bachelor’s degree. And then there’s the additional cost of time and money in spending additional years working on your credential. So many of our students are the first in their families to go to college, and that additional time and money can become obstacles to achieving their dreams.”

Juarez-Dappe said students in the FYI/JYI programs will be working toward their bachelor’s degree in history and a preliminary credential in history-social science at the same time. The FYI program is intended for freshmen and will take four to five years, depending on the student’s course load, to complete. The JYI program will be available to students transferring from a community college and will take two to three years to complete, depending on a student’s transfer credits.

Both programs, Juarez-Dappe said, integrate history subject-matter coursework with general education requirements as well as the professional requirements for a preliminary credential.

“It’s a very intense program — 132 units, which are more than a traditional degree,” she said. “Students will finish with the preliminary credential so they can get a job as a teacher right away.”

Juarez-Dappe said students accepted into the programs will have an “advantage” as they work toward their degree and credential at the same time.

“They know they are going to be teachers when they’re done,” she said. “They can approach their history studies with the mindset of a teacher, putting what they are learning into the context of how they would use it in a classroom.”

Those interested in the program can reach out to CSUN’s Department of History at (818) 677-3566 or visit its website (https://www.csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/history).