Bilingual Certificate Program
The demand for school professionals who can work with students in their native languages is growing. With a New York state bilingual certificate from Adelphi, you can increase your salary, job security and marketability.
Why Earn Your Bilingual Certification?
The New York Metropolitan area is home to many immigrant groups. Bilingual professionals are in demand and needed to work with English language learners and their families as bilingual teachers, social workers, speech-language pathologists, and school psychologists. Bilingual professionals provide culturally responsive support both inside and outside the classroom, creating an unprecedented demand for school professionals who can work with students in their native languages. With a New York state bilingual certification, you can transform the lives of young English language learners while expanding your own career opportunities (and your earning potential by as much as 44 percent). By the time you complete your certification, you’ll be prepared to help multilingual students and clients navigate unfamiliar systems and unlock new opportunities for their futures.
Why Earn a Bilingual Certification From Adelphi University?
- Follow a flexible curriculum designed specifically for working professionals—our fully online format features asynchronous courses you can complete your bilingual certificate on your own time, at your own pace.
- Get real-time feedback from live, synchronous Zoom courses in the evenings, allowing you to build community without compromising your schedule.
- Study with a vibrant group of multilingual faculty members who have professional experience in Brazil, Laos, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand, Russia and beyond.
- Enjoy a high return on your investment with our newly redesigned tuition structure, which reflects the Bilingual Certification program’s online format as well as Adelphi’s commitment to student success.
- Gain hands-on teaching experience through fieldwork and student teaching in local schools.
- Benefit from Adelphi’s vast network of partner schools and alumni across New York and Long Island, providing easy and wide-ranging access to job opportunities.
- Receive one-to-one attention and personalized guidance from faculty in small class sizes.
What Can You Do With a Bilingual Certification?
This credential is ideal for any teacher, social worker, speech-language pathologist or school psychologist who is fluent in another language (such as Spanish, Chinese, Bengali or Haitian Creole). Certificate holders will be well-positioned for roles such as:
- Advocate for immigrant and refugee services
- Bilingual classroom teacher (grades pre-K through 12)
- Bilingual school social worker
- Bilingual special education teacher
- Bilingual speech-language pathologist
- Dual-language instructional coach
- ENL/bilingual program coordinator
- Multicultural education consultant
Degree Options & Certifications
Adelphi offers paths to bilingual certification for every school professional, whether you’re looking to enter the classroom for the first time, add a valuable credential to your resume or bring multicultural instruction to a clinical setting.
MS in Bilingual Childhood Special Education
For aspiring educators seeking to maximize their marketability. This path leads to three distinct New York state certifications: Childhood Education (Grades 1–6), Students with Disabilities and the Bilingual Education Extension.
Bilingual Social Work, MSW
This program is designed for bilingual individuals interested in working as bilingual social workers in a New York State primary or secondary school setting.
Advanced Certificates
For certified teachers and pupil personnel service providers (social workers, speech-language pathologists and school psychologists) who want to provide services in the native languages of their students and clients. These programs add a Bilingual Extension Certificate to existing teaching or clinical certificates, such as social work or speech-language pathology.
Our mission is to treat a student’s native language as a powerful resource for learning, advocacy and social justice.
Exceptional Hands-On Learning
At Adelphi, we believe in integrating theory and practice to prime students for successful careers in today’s multicultural world. Unlike other bilingual education programs, we don’t delay field placements. You’ll begin real-time observations right away, going on to complete your fieldwork and student teaching hours in diverse school districts and clinical settings across New York City and Long Island. (We make an effort to pair students with placement settings near their home and/or work.) At the same time, you’ll work closely with faculty mentors on multicultural pedagogy and native language literacy strategies that you can immediately apply to your own classroom or clinic. With this certification in hand, you’ll be ready to serve as a cultural bridge between immigrant families and the school system, making sure every student you supervise has an equitable seat at the table.
Application Requirements
Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and should submit the following application requirements:
- Graduate application and $60 fee
- Official transcripts from all prior institutions and proof of bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year institution
- Final transcript documenting a master’s degree from an accredited four-year institution (for applicants interested in the advanced certificate)
- Online survey completed by two recommenders
- Personal essay
- Course-by-course evaluation: All graduate applicants with undergraduate-level work completed outside of the United States will be required to send a course-by-course evaluation of their academic work prepared by a NACES member organization. Adelphi recommends you use The Evaluation Company (TEC) or IEE (discount provided for Adelphi applicants), ECE, or WES, but any NACES member evaluation would be acceptable.
Additional Requirements
Candidates for the advanced certificate programs will be required to pass the Bilingual Education Assessment (BEA).
Understanding Costs and Savings
Because this program is offered entirely online, the tuition rates are substantially lower. Learn about the costs you can expect, and discover how scholarships, grants and financial aid packages can put an Adelphi education within reach.
FAQs: Bilingual Certificate Program
Our Bilingual Education program offers advanced coursework designed to prepare educators and school professionals to work effectively with bilingual and multilingual populations. Completing this program satisfies the academic requirements to add a bilingual credential/extension to your existing professional certification.
This program is specifically structured for working professionals across four key clinical and educational disciplines:
- Classroom Teachers (Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary, and Special Education)
- School Social Workers
- Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)
- School Psychologists
Adding a bilingual extension allows certified teachers to teach in dual-language, transitional bilingual, and integrated ENL classrooms. Demand for dual-language educators is at an all-time high, offering increased job security, preference in hiring, and opportunities for salary advancement.
Multilingual students require culturally responsive assessment and support. Earning a bilingual credential in these specialized roles validates your expertise to:
- Conduct non-discriminatory psychoeducational or speech-language evaluations in a student’s native language.
- Provide culturally affirming counseling, therapy, and family advocacy within school districts.
- Serve as a high-demand specialist in multicultural school environments or private practice.
While all candidates gain foundational knowledge in language acquisition, bilingualism, and cultural perspectives, coursework and field experiences are tailored to your specific scope of practice. See the links for specific program requirements.
Yes. Candidates should possess high proficiency (speaking, reading, and writing) in English and a target language (such as Spanish, Haitian Creole, Urdu, Arabic, etc.). Students must pass the NYS Bilingual Education Assessment exam before final certification is granted.
No. The NYC Metro area is home to speakers of many languages. The BEA is given in over 30 languages.
Yes. Designed with working educators and clinicians in mind, online courses are offered asynchronous and in synchronous evening formats to accommodate your work schedule.
Awards & Recognition
