Common Questions About Title II

Click to View the Antioch Title II Report (2005-2006 Academic Year) (PDF)

What is Title II?
Title II is part of the federal Higher Education Act (HEA) for institutions of higher education. It outlines public disclosure requirements dictated by the U.S. Department of Education and Congress.

Title II includes a new national reporting system for institutions with a teacher preparation program that enrolls students receiving federal assistance under the HEA. The goal of this reporting system is to identify and compare the quality of the programs offered by these approximately 1,300 institutions.

The government looks at students' test scores - in areas such as basic skills, knowledge of content areas in which the student will teach, and pedagogy skills - as their main comparison point. Information goes to each state's government, then to the U.S. Department of Education and to Congress.

Under Title II, what information are colleges and universities with teacher preparation programs required to report?
Each year, they must report certain information to the state and to the general public. This information includes:

How many of the programs' "completers" pass assessments required by the state for teacher licensure or certification
The statewide pass rate on those assessments
Basic program information, such as the number of students in each program and the faculty-to-student ratios

When is this information available?
April 7 is the annual deadline for distributing updated information to the state and the public. This year's report covers Sept. 1, 2002 to Aug. 31, 2003. (Note that this is different than the academic year for Antioch's programs; this difference is reflected in the report Antioch submitted.)

What exactly will happen to the information submitted to the state?
On Oct. 8 each year, each state will report information about that state's programs to the U.S. Department of Education and the public.

This reporting will include:

State licensing and certification requirements
Alternative routes to certification
Pass rates for teacher certification candidates: statewide, for each institution of higher education and for each alternative route
Rankings of institutions by pass rates
Information on the use of waivers of regular certification or licensure requirements, and the percentage of teachers with such waivers
State criteria for assessing the performance of teacher preparation programs
Other areas, such as standards, that affect the overall quality of new teachers
Supplemental information the state believes is important to providing necessary context
On the following April 8, the U.S. Department of Education then will report to Congress and the public:
Overview tables on licensing and certication requirements, types of certificates, alternative routes and waivers
State and jurisdiction profiles
Summary of efforts to improve teacher preparation and quality

Will I be able to use Title II information to accurately compare programs in different states?
No. Teacher licensing requirements, as well as cutoff scores for tests, vary from state to state-even when different states use the same licensing exam. Some colleges and universities recommend their students to the state for licensure before they take the state tests; others after. Some don't even recommend a student for licensure if the student fails the test. In those states, colleges would have a 100 percent pass rate.

Information for Antioch University Seattle or any other local program should be looked at in the context only of the education programs and licensing requirements in Washington state.

Are there any other issues that affect how to compare schools' data?
Yes. It's important to note that pass rates reflect a percentage of a school's graduates who meet the minimum standard, rather than whether individual graduates from particular colleges excel on their exams.

How do I get a copy of Antioch's Title II report?
You can go to the top of this page, click on the report and download the PDF. You also may call the Center for Programs in Education at (206) 268-4623 for a free copy.

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