Secondary Education

California, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Wisconsin: in any of these places, and others as well, you’ll find a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod secondary school. These high schools, academies, and preparatory schools need qualified educators, and they look to Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota, to supply them.

As the WELS College of Ministry, MLC is unique in purpose and unique in preparation. Here we will equip you to be a professional educator and—much more important—a public minister of the gospel.


If you complete the secondary teacher education program (STEP), you’ll earn a double major: elementary education and secondary education in the area of your choice—English, history, science, mathematics, music, physical education, Spanish, or parish music.

Upon graduation, you’ll be ready to serve the church as a teacher in one of the 350+ elementary schools or the 20+ high schools in the WELS.

New in Secondary Ed

MLC is seeking approval for secondary licensure in individual disciplines, such as math, music, etc. If you want to teach high school math, for instance, you will be able to take a four-year program and graduate with a secondary (grade 5-12) math license, or take a five-year program and graduate with double licensure, in both elementary education and secondary math. We'd encourage you to pursue double licensure, because most of our graduates get assigned to elementary schools first. But the choice is yours.

“Taking an extra year was a way to prepare myself for teaching high school, which is what I’d really like to do, but I’ll also have my elementary education degree, so I’ll be prepared for wherever the Lord wants me to go.”
Jeff Dolan (quoted in 2006)
MLC 2007
Assigned to St. Croix Lutheran High School in 2007

Upon successful completion of the present five-year program, you will . . .

• earn a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with a double major;
• Minnesota standards for elementary licensure; and
• be eligible for assignment.

Entrance Requirements

In addition to the general entrance requirements, some STEP majors have additional requirements:
Mathematics:

• H.S. math GPA of B- or higher
• math subscore of 25 or higher
• Precalculus

Science:

• Same as STEP math, PLUS…
• 3 high school science courses with a GPA of B- or higher
• ACT science reasoning subscore of 25 or higher

Spanish:

• 2 Spanish credits
• Test in at intermediate I level

Music:

• Entrance exam qualifying score
• Satisfactory audition

“I looked for a private college that had stellar programs in the field of education, small class sizes, and Christ as the core of all activities. MLC perfectly fits all three criteria. And the prospect of spending my teaching career in a Christian classroom was an opportunity that I could simply not pass up.”
Micah Ricke
MLC 2010
Secondary Ed-Social Studies