The health and physical education (HPE) major provides a foundation for teaching through a four-year program (BS), or the UNH Department of Education fifth-year program leading to a masters of arts in teaching (MAT). Graduates become certified to teach kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) health and physical education in the state of New Hampshire. This licensure is transferable to all other states in the U.S. Extensive supervised practicum experiences that provide teaching skills, including adaptive physical education programming, offers an excellent foundation for preparing high-quality teachers. The combination of health with physical education and adaptive physical education makes graduates highly marketable.
Internal UNH undergraduate transfer candidates must have a minimum GPA of 2.67 before admission to the major. External UNH undergraduate transfers must have a minimum GPA of 2.75. The coursework for students choosing the four-year or five-year path to teaching certification is exactly the same until the final semester of the undergraduate program. The culminating experience for students in the four-year teaching program is student teaching (EDUC 694D/HPE 694 Supervised Teaching in Health and Physical Education). Students choosing to do the fifth-year program complete a year-long internship, in lieu of student teaching. Students also have the option of completing a concentration in adapted physical education through additional coursework designed to enhance teaching strategies and the programmatic needs of students with disabilities.
Admission to the fifth year program requires a minimum GPA of 3.0. Students admitted early to the masters program (required GPA of 3.2 or greater) are eligible for dual credit at the undergraduate/graduate levels for up to 12 credit hours. This enables undergraduates to begin the masters program in their junior or senior year. For questions about the program, contact the undergraduate program coordinator, Holly Alperin at (603) 862-1211, or [email protected].

