City Teaching Alliance

2 women, 1 man discussing inside a classroom

City Teaching Alliance

About

City Teaching Alliance is dedicated to providing students in urban communities with highly effective educators. We offer comprehensive, integrated teacher development, and we’re the only program in the country that provides an initial year of paid experience in a real classroom, a master's degree with a focus on culturally responsive teaching, two teaching certificates (dual certification including special education), and three years of one-on-one coaching and classroom-based support.

Government/Nonprofit organization
Dallas

Institution Links

Of all the things that made me Teacher of the Year, at the top of the list is [City Teaching Alliance]. The coursework preparation, the mentor I had my first year, doing summer work with students, and the trial and error that [City Teaching Alliance] gave me with the Residency Year, that set me up for success.

Samantha Childs

Master’s & certification

Residency Program

Start Checklist

In-person
Program Format
Pre-Test Required
No

Relevant Links

Admissions Application Department Financial Aid

Program Info

The City Teaching Alliance program model was strategically designed with the next generation of successful career educators and difference-makers in mind!

Earn While You Learn: Paid residency, followed by a full-time teaching position, benefits and health insurance
Accessibility: We offer financial aid, AmeriCorps, scholarships, grants and loan forgiveness programs, as well as free personalized financial advising.
Career-Readiness: Earn a master's degree from American University with a focus on culturally responsive teaching and two teaching certificates (dual certification including Special Education).
Comprehensive Support: Work alongside coaches, faculty, host teachers and local site staff committed to helping you become a best-in-class teacher.
Signing Bonus: City Teaching Alliance Members will be eligible to apply for need-based transitional assistance.
Other Resources: Support with affordable housing for teachers (more info below).

Apply to join the 2026 cohort! Applications open September 2, 2025 — mark your calendar! See all upcoming deadlines on the application page or view them below:

Get Deadline Reminders

Application Fee & Annual Tuition

$45,000
In State Tuition
$45,000
Out of State Tuition

Ways to Lower Your Costs

Students at City Teaching Alliance have reduced the cost of their program using these methods. Check with City Teaching Alliance to see if you can, too!

Amount

Description

$30,000

Stipend

All residents are eligible for a first-year Residency Stipend of $30,000. The second-year full-time teacher salary is $60,000.

Varies

Grants, Scholarships, Loans

We remain committed to making this program accessible through a compilation of financial aid options, including grants, scholarships, and loans, available to our educators.

A signing bonus of $1,000 + $2,000 towards relocation expenses is available for Cohort 2024.

Participants are also eligible to apply for an additional $2,000 of funding, awarded on a case-by-case basis.

Varies

Summer Room & Board

Room and board is covered for the summer institute

Varies

Healthcare

Participants are eligible for full benefits with their employer in their first year of the program as a resident, at no cost to the participant.

Varies

Books & Materials

Books and materials for the Master’s program are covered for the two years participants are enrolled.

Varies

Grants & Americorps Benefits

Participants are eligible for grants and Americorps financial benefits. For more information, visit our finance page and info central.

For more information visit:Financial Aid Office

Certifications

Elementary Education Pre-K-6
English Language Arts 4-8
English Language Arts 7-12
Mathematics 4-8
Mathematics 7-12
Special Education
TESOL

For more information, visit: Admissions

Program Overview

City Teaching Alliance's coursework and coaching are designed for you to seamlessly move between learning new skills and applying learnings in the classroom with formative support and feedback. Urban Teachers’ overall arc for program participants includes three distinctive, high leverage core components:

● 40 credits of clinically focused, graduate-level coursework over two years (including two summers), with deep practical training and culminating in a master’s degree

● 85+ hours of individualized coaching over three years (often administered by the same faculty who are teaching coursework), including real time, in-person classroom feedback

● Hands-on learning through a one-year residency experience with our district partners, Dallas ISD or Uplift

● Rigorous, comprehensive, and repeated evaluation of classroom teaching practice against increasing expectations over three years, culminating in a recommendation for a standard state teaching certification in your content subject areas and supplemental certificates in special education and English as a Second Language.

Program Hallmarks

Stats

Gender

Male
Female

31%

69%

Get Started

Dig deeper. Visit City Teaching Alliance's website to learn more and apply.

We want to strategically prepare more of our students to enter STEM-related fields upon graduating from college. For us to reach this goal, we realize that we need more teachers who are capable of building our students' conceptual understanding of both mathematics and science that leads to deeper learning and high levels of synthesis. The success of our students in both their mathematics and science courses is contingent upon the training and competence of their STEM teachers. We believe our partnership with Urban Teachers is an important step toward filling every math and science classroom with these types of career teachers.

- Remy Washington, Chief Academic Officer, Uplift Education