2023 CEFC National Cohort at their Cornerstone Retreat, held at Aquinas College in Nashville, TN.
ICLE is thrilled to announce that graduates of its Catholic Educator Formation and Credential (CEFC) Program are now eligible to receive up to nine graduate credits toward the Augustine Institute’s new Master of Arts in Catholic Education degree.
The Augustine Institute’s M.A. in Catholic Education seeks to prepare Catholic educators to be effective witnesses to Jesus Christ and his Church. This 36-credit-hour graduate program joins the return of classical pedagogical methods to the communication of an integrated theological worldview and is offered in full-time, part-time, on-campus, and distance learning formats.
Dr. Jeffrey Lehman, director of the M.A. Catholic Education program, observes, “For all the serious challenges facing the Church and Catholic schools today, we are nonetheless living in a time of great hope. The hunger for authentic, devout, well-informed Catholic education is growing rapidly. The ICLE has been generously meeting this need with a robust formation program and we are looking forward to being partners in this renewal.”
The Augustine Institute is now the second higher education institution to offer graduate-level credit to graduates of ICLE’s CEFC program, following Franciscan University of Steubenville, which offers CEFC graduates up to nine graduate credits toward their Master of Arts in Catholic Studies program.
“The teachers in our Credential program have been delighted to discover the Church’s distinctive wisdom about faith and reason in education, and this has rekindled their own love of learning,” said Elisabeth Sullivan, ICLE’s Executive Director. “The Augustine Institute is highly respected for its leadership in forming disciples. We are honored that our growing number of CEFC graduates now have another excellent path to continue deepening their vocation and becoming leaders in Catholic educational renewal.”
The Catholic Educator Formation and Credential is a robust 18-month hybrid program that prepares educators to infuse a deeply Catholic philosophy and practice of education into their teaching and serves as an alternative to state teacher licensure. It serves entire dioceses across the country, including the Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and the Diocese of Tulsa. It is also available to interested Catholic educators nationwide through a national cohort model. The next national cohort will begin in 2024. Sign up here to be notified when the application period opens for the 2024-2025 CEFC National Cohort.