In order to apply to a program at Relay, you must complete Relay’s admissions process. Admission to Relay includes the following requirements:

• You must meet Relay's GPA requirement for admissions:

  1. You can find your state-specific GPA eligibility requirements here. Please refer to the state-specific GPA eligibility requirement prior to starting your application.
  2. At least a 2.50 Undergraduate GPA* - If you are not seeking certification in your state and your undergraduate GPA is 2.50 or higher, you are eligible for admissions to Relay. 
  3. Below a 2.50 Undergraduate GPA* - If you are not seeking certification in your state and your undergraduate GPA is less than 2.50, Relay typically admits a small portion of applicants with an undergraduate GPA below a 2.50 who have:

     1. Earned a master’s degree or higher with a GPA of 2.50 or higher, or

     2. Earned a 2.50 GPA in their last 60 credit hours of their undergraduate program.

  4. If you do not meet the above criteria you may be prompted to have a secondary recommendation submitted that will be used to evaluate their eligibility for admissions to Relay. Relay can only admit a small number of students via this second recommendation exception. Please submit your transcript and application as soon as possible to be considered.

*When reporting your undergraduate GPA, Relay is asking for a cumulative GPA, an average of all final grades you earned from the time you first enrolled in an institution of higher education to the completion of your education, including all credits earned across all institutions attended. If you need assistance calculating your undergraduate cumulative GPA, please check out this GPA calculator.

• You must provide Relay with official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. As a requirement for admissions, you must provide Relay with an official transcript that demonstrates that you have earned a *bachelor's degree from an **accredited institution of higher education. Click here to read more about submitting transcripts to Relay.

  1. * You may apply to Relay if you are in the process of earning your bachelor's degree. Please see the Conditional Admissions section below for more information pertaining to you, if you apply to Relay prior to completing your bachelor's degree.
  2. ** Please note: Applicants can look up the accreditation of their institution of higher education here. The following states require that an applicant has earned their bachelor's degree from an institution that has regional accreditation: Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, and New Jersey.  

• You must submit all application materials, including:

  1. An up-to-date resume
  2. Contact information for one recommender, to whom Relay will reach out
  3. A short essay on the topic provided

• You must satisfy all admissions and enrollment requirements listed on their Application, Institutional Admissions, Transcript, Enrollment, and Post-Admissions checklists, and if applicable, their Educator Preparation Program Checklist. 

• You must secure a program-aligned instructional role in order to stay enrolled at Relay. If you start in the summer you must secure your role by August 5, 2024. If you start in the fall term you must secure your role by September 2, 2024.   Relay collaborates with several educational organizations across the country. These include, but are not limited to:

  1. School Partners (e.g. Intrepid College Prep, Ashe Charter School)

  2. Partnering Organizations (e.g. Teach for America, New York City Teaching Fellows)

  3. Public School Districts (e.g. Atlanta Public Schools, San Antonio Independent School District)

  4. Public Charter Networks (e.g. KIPP Houston Public Schools, Uplift Education)

Click here to learn more about the Relay Teaching Residency job description.  If you are wondering whether or not your teaching position meets the criteria for enrollment in a program, please review this guide.  If you have further questions, reach out to [email protected].

There will be no exceptions made to the admissions eligibility criteria unless explicitly stated, such as a GPA exception made via a second recommendation.  Relay admissions eligibility criteria are set to align with state standards and regulations.  If an applicant believes they will not meet one of the criteria required for admission into their program of choice, they should discuss their concerns with a Prospective Student Advisor by emailing [email protected].  As noted in Relay's Prospective Student Reconsideration Policy, a prospective student may provide new, important, and compelling information that was not previously described in their initial admissions application in the case of ineligibility due to GPA or program-aligned instructional role.

Conditional Admissions

1. For all applicants: Applicants to Relay Graduate School of Education are required to satisfy all requirements on the following checklists:

   • Application
   • Institutional Admissions
   • Transcript
   • Enrollment
   • Post-Admissions
   • Educator Preparation Program (if applicable)

2. If you have certain admissions requirements in progress or outstanding at the time of admission: You may be conditionally admitted to Relay. 

3. What is Conditional Admissions?: Conditional admissions refers to students who have been admitted conditionally to Relay on the basis of outstanding admissions requirements. While a student is conditionally admitted they have financial implications. Once a student who was conditionally admitted has satisfied their outstanding conditional admissions items, they are considered fully enrolled students at Relay.

4. Academic Implications

   • If you are conditionally admitted and do not satisfy their in-progress or outstanding admissions requirements by the deadlines listed on the Transcripts Guide you may be administratively withdrawn from Relay. 

   • If the official degree-conferred transcript submitted by you demonstrates a GPA that does not meet the admissions requirements for their program, you may be administratively withdrawn.

5. Financial Implications: The following implications apply to all students who are conditionally admitted:

   • Federal Aid - Students conditionally admitted are ineligible for federal aid (i.e. federal unsubsidized direct loans and TEACH grants)

   • Tuition Charges - Students remain responsible for paying the full balance of tuition and fees that have been charged to them, including any unpaid tuition due to unearned pending awards. 

   • Loan Deferral Implications - Students are ineligible to receive an in-school deferment for pre-existing student loans. Students in Alt-Route programs do not qualify for in-school loan deferment under any circumstances.

   • Veteran Affairs (VA) implications - Students who are conditionally admitted to Relay and are seeking to apply for VA benefits in an approved location are considered by the VA as “non-matriculated” students. Therefore, the VA will limit those students’ eligibility for benefits to two consecutive terms*.

     • *If after two consecutive terms, the student remains conditionally admitted to Relay (considered non-matriculated by the VA), they cannot receive any benefits.

Note: See Transcripts Guide for more details about conditional admissions regarding bachelor's degree-conferred transcripts" and Relay Locations for more details about conditional admissions in your state.

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