"For me, the MIP was the perfect package—my master's coursework gave me exactly the preparation I needed to be a successful and productive teacher-training volunteer, and my Peace Corps experience allowed me to deepen my understanding of my coursework by putting it to work in the field. Together, both my master's coursework and my Peace Corps experience were more meaningful than they could have been alone."
—Brooke Cashman, on her Peace Corps Teacher Training experience in the Philippines.
About the Program
The Master's International Program enables participants to qualify for Peace Corps TEFL assignments through graduate course work leading to an MA in TESOL. MIP / MA TESOL participants can qualify or Peace Corps Assignments in Secondary School TEFL Instruction, University English Teaching, and University level English Teacher Training. At the completion of the program, participants are ready to enter the job market with excellent academic credentials and significant overseas teaching experience. MIP / MA TESOL students who successfully complete their Peace Corps service earn, at no cost, six credits of Cooperative Education Field Experience. In addition, they are waived from the three-credit TESOL Practicum course based on their Peace Corps teaching experience.
Volunteers
Meet our Peace Corps volunteers! Click on their names to read letters and descriptions of their Peace Corps experiences—and see a Flash slideshow of Austin Kaufmann's Peace Corps Experience.
Current Volunteers
Kelly Gast is currently serving as a TEFL volunteer in Turkmenistan while finishing her MA in TESOL at AU.
Emma Archer graduated from the AU TESOL MA program in 2008. She is currently serving as a TEFL volunteer in Mongolia.
Angela Potts is currently serving in Malawi. Julie Staggs is currently serving in Namibia.
Current Master's International Students
Megan Calvert served as an EFL teacher in a rural village school in Kyrgyzstan from 2005-2007. She is currently pursuing her MA in TESOL at American University.
Samantha Parkes served as an EFL teacher in Moldova from 2005-2007. She is currently pursuing her MA in TESOL at American University.
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers/AU TESOL Alums
Marlena Hawkins is currently teaching ESL at an elementary school in northern Virginia.
Lyn Fogle is a Doctoral Candidate in Applied Linguistics at Georgetown University. She received her MA in TESOL at AU in 2002.
Angela Dick has completed her Peace Corps service as a teacher trainer in the Sakhalin Islands. She is currently living in Switzerland with her husband and son.
Jennifer Lubkin served in Azerbaijan from 2006-2008. She completed her MA in TESOL program in December 2008. She is currently teaching at Montgomery College, a community college in Maryland.
Ben Houle, who taught University EFL in Vladivostock, Russia from 2001 to 2003 is currently teaching in Prince William County Public Schools.
Brooke Cashman volunteered in the Philippines from 2002-2004. She is currently an instructor as Georgetown University's Center for Language Education and Development.
Austin Kaufmann taught English in the Kyrgyz Republic from 2002-2004. He is currently a teacher educator for Georgetown's Center for Learning, Education, and Development (CLED), teaching Methodology and Materials Design in a TESOL Certificate Program at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea. Catch up with Austin via his blog at http://austinstesolblog.blogspot.com/ or his Flash Slideshow.
Christina Breuer is working with Peace Corps Response (formerly Crisis Corps), which places RPCVs for "short-term, high-impact" assignments. She is currently focused on placing RPCVs in education asssignments in Liberia. This is the first new program in Liberia since Peace Corps pulled out nearly two decades ago.
John Marks Kingcompleted his Peace Corps Service in Uzbekistan in 2001 and currently holds a position in NOVA's College ESL program.
Program Requirements
A total of 36 credit hours (of which the 3-credit ESL Practicum is waived.
9 core courses (27 credit hours):
- TESL.500 Principles of Linguistics
- TESL.501 English Language Teaching I (Prerequisite for TESL.502)
- TESL.502 English Language Teaching II
- TESL.503 Structure of English (prerequisite: TESL.500)
- TESL.522 Language Acquisition OR TESL.523 Second Language Acquisition
- TESL.527 Cultural Issues in the ESL/EFL classroom OR ANTH.537 Topics in Language and Culture OR ANTH.554 Topics in Public Anthropology: Anthropology of Education
- TESL-531 Language Assessment
- TESL-541 Teaching Grammar OR TESL-542 Teaching Pronunciation
- TESL-620 ELT III (waived)
One internship course (6 credits):
TESL-693 Master's International
The six credits for this internship are completed during the Peace Corps service; tuition is waived.
Admission Requirements
No previous training in linguistics or teaching experience is required for admission. It is recommended (but not required) that native English speakers have some background in at least one language other than English. Applicants for the MA degree must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) on undergraduate coursework. The Graduate Record Examination is required.
Note: Peace Corps can only accept American citizens. Participants must meet all other Peace Corps requirements prior to beginning Volunteer service.
Additional Requirements
Students are required to complete a portfolio and pass an oral comprehensive exam. To remain in good standing, students must earn a grade point average of B (3.0) or better.
FAQs
How does the MIP work?
Certain volunteer assignments are classified by Peace Corps as "Scarce Skills Assignments." This mean that regularly, Peace Corps gets more requests from host countries for these kinds of skills than Peace Corps can provide. The MIP was therefore designed to yoke graduate education in these skills with Peace Corps service. Some other Peace Corps assignments in the MIP are forestry, nursing, and fisheries.
In principle, an MIP applicant applies to the college program and Peace Corps at the same time. The applicant then carries out the bulk of her/his coursework in the graduate program and then completes the degree program through credits earned based on Peace Corps service. This works out well because the Peace Corps application process is quite extensive, usually taking six to nine months.
If you do the AU TESOL Master's International Program, your degree will be AU's MA in TESOL degree. To get there, the candidate does most of her/his coursework at AU and then begins Peace Corps TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) service. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, the MIP candidate corresponds regularly with the TESOL Program Coordinator and at the end of her/his service, does a comprehensive final report on the course work. This results in earning six credits of International Internship experience. Then, since the volunteer has been doing significant teaching for two years or more with Peace Corps, s/he is waived from the three credit TESOL Practicum course.
What if Peace Corps turns down my application?
From time to time this happens, usually for medical reasons. If this should occur, the candidate can continue as a regular MA in TESOL candidate. However the nine credits of course work which the candidate would now take in lieu of the credits earned for Peace Corps experience must be paid for.
What is the "Reverse" MIP?
For Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who have already served as TEFL teachers, they can join the MIP program "in reverse"; that is, by submitting the required reports on their Peace Corps TEFL experience, they can earn, at no cost, six credits of international internship course work and be waived from taking the 3 credit TESOL Practicum.
Can I be considered for Merit Awards under the Master's International Program? Yes, MIP candidates may be considered for all Merit Awards for which they are eligible.
For more information on Peace Corps, email dcinfo@peacecorps.gov (DC, MD, NC, WV, VA, DE) or call 1-800-424-8580, option 1. or visit the Peace Corps Master's International Webpage. Visit Graduate Admissions to apply to the program.
