American interested in Alberta universities, tuition questions

International Students
1

Hi,
I’m a US citizen, I graduated high school 6 years ago and I’m ready to go back to school now.
I am thinking about earning a teaching degree, I haven’t taken an SAT or ACT yet, but I’m considering the University of Calgary and the University of Edmonton.
My questions are:

  1. would it be likely for me to get any financial aid from either of those schools?
  2. does Alberta offer any financial benefits for people pursuing a Bachelor of Education, or related teaching programs?
  3. would I be able to find a teaching job quickly after I have my degree?
  4. which is cheaper for school- Alberta or staying in the US, considering things like the exchange rate and any chance I might have for financial aid.
    Any advice/opinions you have would be great!
    thanks
2

If you intend to teach, you should get your teaching degree in the state or province in which you intend to teach. I’ve taught in 3 states and provinces and I’m moving to a 4th. Each jurisdiction recognizes my original degree and license, but in the length of time it takes me to get a license for my new state/province, I could have gone through teacher preparation all over again.

As a US citizen, you will not get any financial aid.

3

It is University of Alberta, not University of Edmonton. As @bouders said it is a hassle to get a teaching license in a state even if your degree is from another state.

4

@bouders can you give me an estimate for the average amount of time it took you to get a license from an area that was different from the one you got your degree in?

5

@IdahoGirl92 The first time I moved, my licensure was not accepted in my new state. I had to do a full teacher preparation program to get a new license. The second time I moved, I had to figure out the requirements for someone educated out of state or out of province. This information is not always easy to find. Once I knew the requirements, I had to assemble all my transcripts, and document my teaching and related experience. Once all that was submitted, it took 8 months to get a provisional license. I then had to take 2 more courses to get a full license. One was in the subject I had a PhD/had taught at the graduate level/done research in for a decade- so, it was a bizarre kind of torture to take a class in it. In total, it took about 16 months.

6

It is amazing that in both Canada and the US you can be a university professor with a Ph.D. but not “qualified” to teach in a high school!

7

^^Yup.