Master’s (Titulo Propio) from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona?

[bjcheung77]

Generally, yes. I would think of the Titulo Propio as equivalent to a NA degree or a graduate certificate/diploma (even after a favorable foreign credit evaluation). This may actually work for teaching (depending on the level you want to teach at), as many states require 18 credits in a subject matter before they allow you to teach that subject at the K-12 or even the community college level.

[lincolnlawyer]

Generally, yes.  I would think of the Titulo Propio as equivalent to a NA degree or a graduate certificate/diploma (even after a favorable foreign credit evaluation).  This may actually work for teaching (depending on the level you want to teach at), as many states require 18 credits in a subject matter before they allow you to teach that subject at the K-12 or even the community college level.

I mainly plan to use it for college teaching in East Asia so I guess MMMV, but it’s interesting to know that it may work for community college teaching as well. The Titulo Propio at Barcelona has a dissertation component so it looks rather similar to an Oficiale, except for the unofficial status of course. 

On a side note, I reached out to UOC and they are only responsive after I opened an application (their request information button was unresponsive). I’m getting really curious on how this may go.

[Kab]

This is definitely great information! Thanks so much. 

Would you mind sharing which degree you took and how was the overall experience?
I am attracted by the Master Oficiales status of their program, but their Google Review was quite daunting.

Sure, I can tell you that I did a Master in education and information and communication technology. is available in Spanish and Catalan, so no English for this degree. 
They evaluated my prior experience and education and I think that I had to do some extra credits to be able to start it. I do not know if still this is done or is easier to come in. 
As per structure goes they offer a free model of make as few subjects per semester as you want or you can choose normal speed. It is up to you. But each semester you have to pay for expedient and tech fee (around 150 Euros) plus the credits you took. The class is normal, not accelerated. You have time to do everything even if you work (always that you are not lazy). The program is done having in mind that most people at master level will be working. There is work but the programming of the workload is well done. This also means you have a person that keep taps on you and your performance apart from each  teacher. Usually you can go quicker, but if you sleep on the papers or do not participate maybe you start to get some emails and they will ask if you need help etc. I had classes, could make questions and present problems or ideas but needed some days to answer. In my opinion was complete but not the quickest answer time around. Also a degree of working alone and maturity is expected. A problem for the student will be the practicums or practical stages if you studies have them as necessary and you are not in Spain. I do not know how they will (or will not ) provide them or help you find them.
At the end of each master degree is a Thesis (written) and a posterior thesis defense in front of a tribunal (which can be done online). Expect to be challenged but fairly.  
The subjects were good and interesting for me at the time. Quite a bit of work. Several papers, several forums and an exam. now is continuous evaluation which in my opinion motivates to keep working all the time and makes easier to pass if you work all the semester and are up to date in assignments. All that was some years ago, so maybe now has changed. The marks and the evaluation was done in a way that you have to work and you have to work extra to get a good mark. The feedback was good and you usually had a clear idea of why you got the mark you got. Some teachers better than others. Got some really good ones and a couple of not so good. Keeping  a positive relationship with each teacher helped a lot in  my opinion to keep the feedback coming. I got some comments that other people from other degrees had it worse... take this information into account.
The administrative part is another history. It is a big university and basically you have to open a query or ticket for most things (if not all). They are not quick and this is frustrating. I got all the answers I needed but sometimes needed to much time (again was over 10 years ago). Later on to transfer the degree to USA I sent them the petition of WES and they did sent all the required paperwork for a fee and it worked well (took some weeks, few). No problem from WES.
They can speak English with no problem in my experience. They have also offices in some Latin American countries in case you need it (mostly commercial offices for what I know but I can be wrong).
All that is from over 10 years ago. Maybe something has changed and the university has growth in population so expect some changes. I am guessing that most problems will come from the administrative side and that the university will be less hand holding than others and expect that you take care of yourself.
If you are not self disciplined, motivated and independent finding solutions to small problems maybe go somewhere where they help you more and give you an easier life. Another negative point is that the material could be better and books are not the newest edition but you will be expected to keep the knowledge up to date and cite new references. So be prepared for that.

[Messdiener]

On a side note, I reached out to UOC and they are only responsive after I opened an application (their request information button was unresponsive). I’m getting really curious on how this may go.

Thanks for sharing this tip. I filled out their form several times and even tried emailing but never heard anything back. I did, however, get put on a mailing list of some kind.

I guess I'll have to open the application if I want any answers. Thanks again!

[lincolnlawyer]

This is definitely great information! Thanks so much. 

Would you mind sharing which degree you took and how was the overall experience?
I am attracted by the Master Oficiales status of their program, but their Google Review was quite daunting.

Sure, I can tell you that I did a Master in education and information and communication technology. is available in Spanish and Catalan, so no English for this degree. 
They evaluated my prior experience and education and I think that I had to do some extra credits to be able to start it. I do not know if still this is done or is easier to come in. 
As per structure goes they offer a free model of make as few subjects per semester as you want or you can choose normal speed. It is up to you. But each semester you have to pay for expedient and tech fee (around 150 Euros) plus the credits you took. The class is normal, not accelerated. You have time to do everything even if you work (always that you are not lazy). The program is done having in mind that most people at master level will be working. There is work but the programming of the workload is well done. This also means you have a person that keep taps on you and your performance apart from each  teacher. Usually you can go quicker, but if you sleep on the papers or do not participate maybe you start to get some emails and they will ask if you need help etc. I had classes, could make questions and present problems or ideas but needed some days to answer. In my opinion was complete but not the quickest answer time around. Also a degree of working alone and maturity is expected. A problem for the student will be the practicums or practical stages if you studies have them as necessary and you are not in Spain. I do not know how they will (or will not ) provide them or help you find them.
At the end of each master degree is a Thesis (written) and a posterior thesis defense in front of a tribunal (which can be done online). Expect to be challenged but fairly.  
The subjects were good and interesting for me at the time. Quite a bit of work. Several papers, several forums and an exam. now is continuous evaluation which in my opinion motivates to keep working all the time and makes easier to pass if you work all the semester and are up to date in assignments. All that was some years ago, so maybe now has changed. The marks and the evaluation was done in a way that you have to work and you have to work extra to get a good mark. The feedback was good and you usually had a clear idea of why you got the mark you got. Some teachers better than others. Got some really good ones and a couple of not so good. Keeping  a positive relationship with each teacher helped a lot in  my opinion to keep the feedback coming. I got some comments that other people from other degrees had it worse... take this information into account.  
The administrative part is another history. It is a big university and basically you have to open a query or ticket for most things (if not all). They are not quick and this is frustrating. I got all the answers I needed but sometimes needed to much time (again was over 10 years ago). Later on to transfer the degree to USA I sent them the petition of WES and they did sent all the required paperwork for a fee and it worked well (took some weeks, few). No problem from WES.
They can speak English with no problem in my experience. They have also offices in some Latin American countries in case you need it (mostly commercial offices for what I know but I can be wrong).
All that is from over 10 years ago. Maybe something has changed and the university has growth in population so expect some changes. I am guessing that most problems will come from the administrative side and that the university will be less hand holding than others and expect that you take care of yourself.
If you are not self disciplined, motivated and independent finding solutions to small problems maybe go somewhere where they help you more and give you an easier life. Another negative point is that the material could be better and books are not the newest edition but you will be expected to keep the knowledge up to date and cite new references. So be prepared for that.

Wow, thank you for the generous information! 

I’m considering their Master’s in Technology-Mediated Language Teaching and Learning, which I assume is the English-taught version of what you took years ago. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear from someone who’s taken a similar program! 

I think you address an important issue that many angry reviewers on Google fail to mention. 
If I understood you correctly, the teaching staff were responsive and helpful but the admin might be difficult to reach at times. 

Has this ever become a problem so serious that it delayed your completion? 

I’m leaning towards this program if it is just minor inconveniences with the admin.

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On a side note, I reached out to UOC and they are only responsive after I opened an application (their request information button was unresponsive). I’m getting really curious on how this may go.

Thanks for sharing this tip. I filled out their form several times and even tried emailing but never heard anything back. I did, however, get put on a mailing list of some kind.

I guess I'll have to open the application if I want any answers. Thanks again!

Did the “Request Information” form load for you? For me, it wouldn’t load even after I had filled in all the required fields. This, combined with their reviews on Google, became a major red flag for me. 


However, as another member has pointed out, completing the degree itself is not impossible. Frankly, among other cheap providers mentioned on this forum, being unresponsive is not that rare so it’s a risk I’m willing to bet on. 

May I ask which program you’re considering?

[nykorn]

I'm a bit confused about your situation.

To teach in the US at any public school, you need a US teaching license. To teach any specific skill in the US, such as Law, you need to get your teaching license endorsed in that same category. The rules for both getting a teaching license, and getting an endorsement, can vary drastically from state to state, so you also need to know which state you want to move to in order to teach in. For some states, all you have to do is already have your teaching license then take a knowledge test and bam, you can apply for the license endorsement. For other states, you need to take 8-10 college level courses (some states required credits to be received, others don't), or courses offered by a 3rd party but state-approved program and which contain a teaching internship.

Theoretically the easiest way would be to basically "transfer" your foreign teaching license, and get it approved as a US state teaching license, or to apply to a school, get hired, and they get you an "emergency teaching license" on the basis of that you already have a Bachelor's degree. In reality it may be hard to do this (despite the teacher shortage) - many schools will not give emergency licenses, and your foreign teaching license is likely to not be accepted for reciprocity in the US as it is now. It is also far harder to do these two options if you need a visa to come to the US.

Teaching on a US military base (domestic or overseas), native american tribal area, homeschooling/tutoring, or private school can have totally separate requirements as they are not counted as normal US schools. The last 3 options (according to the law) do not need a teaching license for you to teach at, but again whether or not you can find a position is iffy.

As you graduated from a Japanese school, you may have a lot easier luck finding a position in Hawaii, especially in one of the towns which is made up of around 1/3rd Japanese people. There are bilingual private schools in Hawaii where lessons are taught simultaneously in both Japanese and English, this includes career education or licensing preparation education for adults.

There are also special teacher licensing schools, which will let you study for one term online at home and then one term will be in-person at a local US school to do your internship, at the end you get your US state teaching license, and you are also often hired by the school you got the internship at after your internship ends. I have seen these for Hawaii, among other states.

There is also no separate teacher's license specifically for university level teaching. You get the normal state license, and that license does not require a Master's or PhD. So if you want to teach law at specifically a university, you may need further education, but not if you are teaching anywhere else.

Let's say you want to teach in California but you only qualify for a teaching license in Montana. After you get the Montana license, it may be pretty easy (either just a matter of applying, via "license reciprocity", or a matter of taking 1-2 online courses and submitting that to the state together with your Montana license) to get your license to be recognized in California.

You do not need to be a US citizen or have a US social security number to get a teaching license or take college classes in/from the US. They may ask it of you, but legally you do not have to give it to them (this is a law to protect illegal immigrants). If you need a US ID to either get the teaching license or get into some school courses, you can travel to the US on vacation, get a driver's license (if you have a Japanese one, you do not even need to take a license test in the US) and use that.

To get a license, at least one of your degrees has to be the equivalent of regionally US accredited (I'm sure your Japanese university is). So as for your original first post, no titulo propio will be effective at all in getting a license UNLESS you are just using it as study preparation for the content knowledge exams you need to take to get the license. In all honestly, I have previewed many of the state licensing exam questions in various subjects and they are not difficult, you can easily study everything on your own for free.

[Messdiener]

---

On a side note, I reached out to UOC and they are only responsive after I opened an application (their request information button was unresponsive). I’m getting really curious on how this may go.

Thanks for sharing this tip. I filled out their form several times and even tried emailing but never heard anything back. I did, however, get put on a mailing list of some kind.

I guess I'll have to open the application if I want any answers. Thanks again!

Did the “Request Information” form load for you? For me, it wouldn’t load even after I had filled in all the required fields. This, combined with their reviews on Google, became a major red flag for me. 


However, as another member has pointed out, completing the degree itself is not impossible. Frankly, among other cheap providers mentioned on this forum, being unresponsive is not that rare so it’s a risk I’m willing to bet on. 

May I ask which program you’re considering?

The form I used was on the bottom of each degree program page, down where it says "Would you like more information?"

As for the specific program, I was looking at the same Online University Master's Degree in Technology-Mediated Language Teaching and Learning. There were a few other offerings that were of interest in Spanish, but I'll have to brush up quite a bit more if I would need to do a thesis defense entirely in Spanish.

[lincolnlawyer]

I'm a bit confused about your situation.

To teach in the US at any public school, you need a US teaching license. To teach any specific skill in the US, such as Law, you need to get your teaching license endorsed in that same category. The rules for both getting a teaching license, and getting an endorsement, can vary drastically from state to state, so you also need to know which state you want to move to in order to teach in. For some states, all you have to do is already have your teaching license then take a knowledge test and bam, you can apply for the license endorsement. For other states, you need to take 8-10 college level courses (some states required credits to be received, others don't), or courses offered by a 3rd party but state-approved program and which contain a teaching internship.

Theoretically the easiest way would be to basically "transfer" your foreign teaching license, and get it approved as a US state teaching license, or to apply to a school, get hired, and they get you an "emergency teaching license" on the basis of that you already have a Bachelor's degree. In reality it may be hard to do this (despite the teacher shortage) - many schools will not give emergency licenses, and your foreign teaching license is likely to not be accepted for reciprocity in the US as it is now. It is also far harder to do these two options if you need a visa to come to the US.

Teaching on a US military base (domestic or overseas), native american tribal area, homeschooling/tutoring, or private school can have totally separate requirements as they are not counted as normal US schools. The last 3 options (according to the law) do not need a teaching license for you to teach at, but again whether or not you can find a position is iffy.

As you graduated from a Japanese school, you may have a lot easier luck finding a position in Hawaii, especially in one of the towns which is made up of around 1/3rd Japanese people. There are bilingual private schools in Hawaii where lessons are taught simultaneously in both Japanese and English, this includes career education or licensing preparation education for adults.

There are also special teacher licensing schools, which will let you study for one term online at home and then one term will be in-person at a local US school to do your internship, at the end you get your US state teaching license, and you are also often hired by the school you got the internship at after your internship ends. I have seen these for Hawaii, among other states.

There is also no separate teacher's license specifically for university level teaching. You get the normal state license, and that license does not require a Master's or PhD. So if you want to teach law at specifically a university, you may need further education, but not if you are teaching anywhere else.

Let's say you want to teach in California but you only qualify for a teaching license in Montana. After you get the Montana license, it may be pretty easy (either just a matter of applying, via "license reciprocity", or a matter of taking 1-2 online courses and submitting that to the state together with your Montana license) to get your license to be recognized in California.

You do not need to be a US citizen or have a US social security number to get a teaching license or take college classes in/from the US. They may ask it of you, but legally you do not have to give it to them (this is a law to protect illegal immigrants). If you need a US ID to either get the teaching license or get into some school courses, you can travel to the US on vacation, get a driver's license (if you have a Japanese one, you do not even need to take a license test in the US) and use that.

To get a license, at least one of your degrees has to be the equivalent of regionally US accredited (I'm sure your Japanese university is). So as for your original first post, no titulo propio will be effective at all in getting a license UNLESS you are just using it as study preparation for the content knowledge exams you need to take to get the license. In all honestly, I have previewed many of the state licensing exam questions in various subjects and they are not difficult, you can easily study everything on your own for free.

Sorry for the confusing. I understand it’s a rather rare case. 

To clear things up, I teach undergraduate courses as an adjunct in East Asia. So I don’t have any teaching license because, just like in the US, it is not a requirement for me to teach in universities. 

That said, to move from adjunct to a full-time position, you’ll usually need a master’s closely related to what you teach. In my case, this is something in English Lit, Communications, or TESOL. However, my master’s is in law. 

My long term plan is to move back to the US and teach law - it doesn’t have to be graduate teaching AKA law school. Anything undergraduate (pre-law/BA in Law programs) is fine too. This is why I’m looking for a cheap and fast degree in TESOL/the like so that I can get a full-time gig to save up and move back to the US.

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On a side note, I reached out to UOC and they are only responsive after I opened an application (their request information button was unresponsive). I’m getting really curious on how this may go.

Thanks for sharing this tip. I filled out their form several times and even tried emailing but never heard anything back. I did, however, get put on a mailing list of some kind.

I guess I'll have to open the application if I want any answers. Thanks again!

Did the “Request Information” form load for you? For me, it wouldn’t load even after I had filled in all the required fields. This, combined with their reviews on Google, became a major red flag for me. 


However, as another member has pointed out, completing the degree itself is not impossible. Frankly, among other cheap providers mentioned on this forum, being unresponsive is not that rare so it’s a risk I’m willing to bet on. 

May I ask which program you’re considering?

The form I used was on the bottom of each degree program page, down where it says "Would you like more information?"

As for the specific program, I was looking at the same Online University Master's Degree in Technology-Mediated Language Teaching and Learning. There were a few other offerings that were of interest in Spanish, but I'll have to brush up quite a bit more if I would need to do a thesis defense entirely in Spanish.

That’s what I’ve been eyeing as well. Great to know there’s someone out there sharing the same interest!

It seems like it’s a general Applied Linguistic degree (not designed for teaching a specific language) so I assume the Spanish counterparts would be just the same, except taught in a different language.

On a separate note, have you considered University of Jaén’s Master’s program in Billingual Education and CLIL?

[Messdiener]

That’s what I’ve been eyeing as well. Great to know there’s someone out there sharing the same interest!

It seems like it’s a general Applied Linguistic degree (not designed for teaching a specific language) so I assume the Spanish counterparts would be just the same, except taught in a different language.

On a separate note, have you considered University of Jaén’s Master’s program in Billingual Education and CLIL?

UJ wasn't even on my radar, so thanks for the heads up!

I have to say that I like the UOC degree title better than UJ's, but the latter has quite the interesting program too. I also noticed that they have an official Master of English Studies, with three distinct specialties (TEFL, English Literatures and Cultures, or English Linguistics). Looks like UJ has lots of different opportunities for you!

Have you managed to figure out their tuition fees though? I took a quick glance at the very long pricing document but couldn't get put together a single, whole-degree cost. I'll have to spend a few more minutes on it later.

[gams007]

Have you considered UOC? Unless I'm missing something their tuition is under $1000/year for titulo oficial degrees that should evaluate to RA equivalent. Programs that collaborate with other schools are much more expensive though. They have a titulo oficial master in Technology-Mediated Language Teaching and Learning that sounds like it could meet your needs. https://www.uoc.edu/en/studies/masters/m...e-teaching

Assuming your master's is the equivalent of a titulo oficial you could just get a doctorate from them for a couple thousand bucks. From everything I've read it's pretty rigorous. https://www.uoc.edu/en/studies/doctorate...cation-ict

Interesting enough, UOC was how I found out about these Master’s programs in Spain. 

Does UOC have a good rep though? All I can find is their reviews on Google, which is a total mess, and that was a major let down for me. 

Plus I’m not an EU resident so I’d have to pay around 4K in euros, while UAB only costs 3.7k.

My recently experience is that I try to enroll at UOC this month, and they require me to apostille the TESU diploma so they can accept me, also I have a Dutch nationality, they offer me a discount depending on my region I live in the Caribbean. The total cost of the master in cybersecurity was around 3500 euros in my case. Another point in consideration I try to start this and the advisor told me to select less class subjects to start because he said if I try to rush, and I failed on of the courses I will need to pay again for that particular course subject so, I will end finishing the master’s degree in 2 years. I decide to check another option and I found UNIR it is another Spain university, and they offer the master degree in cybersecurity, and I was able to enroll without problems, I send all my personal credentials also I send the electronic TESU pdf diploma they were able to validate it without to request an Apostille from the New Jersey state to validate my diploma that will take me 3 weeks to be processed including extra cost and later sent this by post to UOC. The price that UOC gives me was $3700,- if I pay it in one time or if I pay it in fraction of $341,- for 12 months the total price was around $4100,- they include some IT Cybersecurity certifications for free in the same price, also the Diploma is official. So I recently enrolled to this University, March 7 is my first class.

Another thing they have live lesson so if you have a chance you can participate in the live sessions, or you can later watch the prerecorded recorded sessions. I hear from UOC that everything is old recorded videos, they do not have live course sessions. At least I can interact with the instructor.