Widely regarded as the “capital of the South,” Atlanta — a major international hub home to the world’s busiest airport, the worldwide headquarters of Coca-Cola, CNN, and Delta Airlines, and a bustling metropolitan cultural scene — is a peach of a location to earn your TEFL certification.
If you live in the southern region of the United States and are interested in teaching English, there are few better places for TEFL certification than Atlanta
Let’s get into it!
General Requirements to Get TEFL-Certified in Atlanta, GA
The prerequisites for enrollment in a TEFL course vary from program to program. Generally speaking, the courses administered by institutes of higher learning have greater requirements than others. The most basic requirements to gain acceptance into a TEFL course are:
- Minimum age of 18 years
- High level of English proficiency (i.e., native competency)
- At least a high school diploma or equivalent
Bear in mind that these general requirements do not necessarily apply to all courses, so don’t worry if you don’t meet one or more of the above – there is a TEFL course in Atlanta out there for you!
Some TEFL courses may have additional requirements, especially, as we mentioned, those hosted by universities:
- 4-year university degree
- Written application
- Minimum GPA (2.75 or higher)
TEFL Certification Courses in Atlanta, GA
TEFL Hero
Online
$99
University of Georgia
In-Person
$1,800
Teaching House
In-Person
$2,595
ITTT
In-Person
$1,295
Oxford Seminars
In-Person
$1,295
Without further ado, let’s dive into a head-to-head matchup of the premier TEFL providers in the Atlanta area.
TEFL Hero (Best Online Option) ($99)
TEFL Hero is the tip of the spear when it comes to digital TEFL certification. The company, founded and run by and for ESL teachers, is committed to supplying its students with top-tier TEFL instruction. The curriculum is informed by years of real-world experience in the classroom.
At a flat $99 price point, TEFL Hero is by far the most affordable option for TEFL certification in the Atlanta area compared to the other providers that we will explore here (if you’re on the west coast, check out our list of TEFL courses in Los Angeles).
TEFL Hero’s 120-hour online TEFL course is fully accredited worldwide, so it will get your foot in the door at any school that requires TEFL certification.
The course covers the essentials of TEFL instruction, including:
- Optimal classroom management techniques
- Planning lessons for maximum effectiveness and enjoyment
- The basic English proficiencies to teach to non-native learners (reading, writing, listening, speaking)
Global TESOL Certification Program (University of Georgia) ($1,800)
The Bulldogs offer a highly-reviewed online TESOL certification program open to Georgia residents. The course is broken down into 4 3-hour credit modules, per the traditional university-level academic model, for a total of 12 credit hours.
The UGA program, which costs $450 per module for a grand total of $1,800, requires at least a high school diploma to qualify and “excellent communication skills in English” – meaning that you don’t necessarily need to be a native speaker to join the program.
The four modules of the program are:
- Orientation to the Profession of TESOL
- Issues of Culture and Language
- Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition
- Materials and Methods for Teaching English Language Learners
Please note that the program price does not include materials like textbooks, which may add additional costs.
Global TESOL Certification Program physical address:
The University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education
1197 South Lumpkin Street
Athens, GA 30602-3603
Teaching House CELTA Course ($2,595)
Hosted in the uber-hip Midtown area of Atlanta, Teaching House’s ATL TEFL course might be right for you if you want to get a feel for fast-paced city life in the thick of the urban center.
The TEFL course site is right next to Piedmont Park, a historic city park that regularly hosts pop culture events and concerts. It’s also conveniently located adjacent to Atlanta’s rail system, MARTA, so you can hop onto a train and explore the city with ease after class.
The students who complete the 4-week course earn a CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), a special type of TEFL certification that is accredited by Cambridge University. CELTA is considered a premier credential among employers. Of course, such certification does come at a premium.
The total program cost is $2,595. Students must also pay an additional $240 for the Cambridge Examination fee to become CELTA-certified.
Teaching House physical address:
Teaching House
1201 Peachtree Street, Suite 1104
400 Colony Square
Atlanta, GA 30361
International TEFL and TESOL Training (ITTT) ($1,295)
If you’ve spent time on ESL job boards or teachers’ forums, you’ve likely run into the ITTT acronym. It’s one of the best-known TEFL providers in the world, delivering trainings in dozens of countries around the globe.
ITTT’s Atlanta certification course costs $1,295 in total – with $700 due in advance after registering as a deposit and the remainder due at the start of class when you arrive in Atlanta.
The course details (including dates and location) are still in development. Further details on the in-person Atlanta ITTT TEFL course should become available soon.
Oxford Seminars Atlanta TEFL Course ($1,295)
Oxford Seminars is another highly respected name in TEFL certification. 3,000 students earn their TEFL certificates each year through the company’s programs offered in multiple countries.
The Atlanta course offering is an in-person/online hybrid, meaning that there are components of the course delivered in a physical classroom with peers as well as a self-guided online portion that you can do at home.
Oxford Seminars supports course graduates with its “Job Placement Service.” This could be a benefit if you feel you need help finding employment, although reputable ESL job boards are full of high-quality postings. Unless you are targeting a very specific niche of the global ESL industry, you likely won’t need the extra help.
The physical portion of the course is held at Oglethorpe University, an illustrious and historic institute of higher learning of local fame.
Oxford Seminars Physical Address:
Oxford Seminars Atlanta course
held at Oglethorpe University
4484 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30319
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What to Expect From Your Atlanta TESOL Course
For 120-hour courses — the industry standard and the format that the majority of the programs here follow (with the exception of UGA) — you can expect to spend 1-3 months from start to finish, depending on either a.) the schedule for in-person courses or b.) your own pace of work for self-guided online courses.
In your studies, you will learn about ideal ESL teaching methods to engage non-native learners, the educational theories that underpin them, and, potentially, cultural awareness for teaching foreign learners.
