Welcome to LEAP About LEAP Admission Requirements Program Requirements Program Delivery Course Schedule Program  Costs Registering for Classes Partners Contact Person Application Materials What People are Saying About LEAP

Have you ever thought about being a teacher? Would you like a job where there are plentiful employment opportunities? Would you like the opportunity to work with both agriculture and people? Would you like a career where you can inspire young people and feel like you have accomplished something important at the end of the day? If you answered YES to any of these questions, LEAP may be the program for you.

LEAP is a web-based, teacher certification program in agricultural education offered through North Carolina State University. The program is available nationwide and is delivered through distance education technologies. LEAP is academically challenging and requires a serious commitment from those enrolled.

The program certifies individuals who have baccalaureate degrees in agriculture, natural resources and closely related disciplines to teach agriculture in school settings. The ultimate goal of this program is to increase the supply of qualified agricultural education teachers. There is a national shortage of agriculture teachers.

Students who successfully complete the program will receive a class "A" teaching license from the state of North Carolina. The North Carolina teaching license is recognized by 40+ states, Department of Defense schools, and the U.S. Territories. The teacher education program at North Carolina State University is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

A formal application process is required to be admitted to the LEAP program. The minimum admission requirements are listed below:

• The applicant must possess a baccalaureate degree in agriculture, natural resources or closely related field from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States.

• The applicant must have 2.5 GPA on all collegiate level work.

• As part of the application process, the applicant must submit an essay detailing why he or she desires to be a teacher of agriculture.

• The applicant must submit three letters of recommendation that focus on the applicant's character, work ethic, academic ability and suitability to becoming a teacher.


While not required in the LEAP certification program, applicants are encouraged to enroll in the graduate program at NC State. A Master’s degree in Agricultural and Extension Education Education requires 36 semester hours. One can transfer 15 hours (AEE 500, 503, 522, 535, and 524) from the LEAP program into the Master's program. If  one applies to the Graduate program and is accepted, then AEE 641 can be counted provided it is completed after admission to the graduate program.

The LEAP program requires 21 semester hours. Specific course requirements are as follows:

AEE 500 - Agricultural Education, Schools and Society (3 hours). This course examines the role, mission, structure, and organization of agricultural education as it operates in the public school system. The University of Delaware aided in the development of this course. This course is usually taught every fall and summer.

AEE 503 - Youth Organization Management (3 hours). One of the major responsibilities of the agricultural teacher is to develop the leadership potential of young people through the FFA program. This course teaches how to operate and manage the FFA program. University of Missouri faculty assisted in developing this course. This course is taught every spring semester.

AEE 522 - Occupational Experience in Agriculture (3 hours). Experiential learning is a hallmark of agricultural education. Students in this course learn how to involve students in supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs. Fort Valley State University was involved in the design of this course. This course is taught every fall semester.

AEE 535 - Teaching Agriculture in Secondary Schools (3 hours). Techniques for instructing students is the focal point of this course. Testing, grading, student management and other related topics are also covered. Faculty at the University of Arizona and Washington State University assisted in the development of this course. THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST COURSES PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED TO TEACH AGRICULTURE SHOULD TAKE.

AEE 524 - Coordinating the High School Agricultural Education Program (3 hours). Principles of program planning applied to educational programs about agriculture; theory and field experiences in planning, organizing, and evaluating secondary agricultural education programs; development of plans for conducting all aspects of the complete agricultural education programs.

AEE 641 Practicum in Agricultural and Extension Education (3 hours). Successfully complete a teaching internship in a school under the direction and guidance of an experienced teacher. Distance education technologies such as Skype and Google Talk are used to observe teaching and to conference with the students. There may also be live observations from NCSU faculty members. This course is available every semester.

Educational Psychology (3 hours) The student is to complete a course in educational psychology at a local university or through distance education from the university of the student's choice. At NCSU the course is EDP 304, however the number of seats is often limited. Many of our students have also taken the course PSYC 2060 through LSU to meet this requirement.   

Other Requirements:

• Maintain a 2.5 GPA in all course work in the LEAP program. If the courses are to be applied toward a Master's degree, a 3.0 GPA is needed.

The five core AEE courses are all web-based courses. In order to participate in the program students need access to the Internet and a computer that is capable of handling streaming video and audio. Students will also need a word processing program and PowerPoint.

Fall AEE 500 - Agric. Education, Schools & Society AEE 522 - Occupational Experience AEE 535 - Teaching Agric. Educ. AEE 641 - Practicum

Spring AEE 503 - Youth Organizations AEE 524 - Coordinating the H.S. Ag Ed Program  AEE 641 - Practicum

Summer AEE 500 - Agric. Education, Schools & Society

Students will pay tuition at North Carolina State University if they enroll at that institution (or at other universities involved in the collaboration). You can pay with check or a credit card. The cost of a course can be found at the university distance education web site. http://distance.ncsu.edu/tuition/index.html

After submitting the information requested above and being accepted into the LEAP program, the next step is to get enrolled in the university. You do this online by enrolling in the Graduate Certificate Program. The “graduate certificate” option is something that the Graduate School has recently implemented. You will need to go to the graduate school web site and complete the online application http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/grad/applygrad.htm. When you get to the Application and Test Information Section, you will see the following. Click on Graduate Certificate and then select Graduate Certificate: Agricultural Education. Later on you will be asked for a personal statement. You can just paste in the statement from your LEAP application.

You will receive official notification of your acceptance to NCSU in a week or two with instructions on how to proceed to get registered for class.

The American Distance Education Consortium, using Agricultural Telecommunications Program funds, supported the development of this program. The National FFA Organization, the National Association of Agricultural Educators, and the six universities previously identified assisted in the development of the program. In 2004 this program was recognized as one of the top five distance education programs in the nation by the American Distance Education Consortium.

Dr. Gary Moore
Department of Agricultural and Extension Education
Box 7607
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695
Phone 919-515-1756
Fax 919-513-1169
E-mail: gary_moore@ncsu.edu (note: there is a _ between gary and moore.)

Application Materials

The application form and letter of recommendation forms can be downloaded as Microsoft Word files and printed or can be requested from Dr. Moore.

• NAAE News and Views: See what the National Association of Agricultural Educators say in the July 2003 issue of News and Views.
• Perspectives: Read an article about LEAP in the Spring 2002 issue of Perspectives, the quarterly journal of the College of Agriculture and Life Science at NCSU
• TECHniques: A recent issue of TECHniques, the professional journal of the Association for Career and Technical Education, contained an article that focused on the LEAP program. (warning: this is a large file and takes time to load. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read this document)
• Lancaster Farming: This article focuses on a Pennsylvania student who is in the LEAP program.