The Educator Preparation Institute is a two semester sequence of courses to prepare students for certification as classroom teachers. This program is only open to persons with a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university. Students must apply for admission to the program. A preliminary test and interview are required. The class meets three times a week, two week nights and Saturday mornings. Students who start the program in the Spring semester may not be able to finish in two semesters, due to observation requirements in K-12 schools. The courses are set to run for 4-5 weeks, so that the students are taking only one course at a time. Four courses are taught in the Fall semester, and five in the Spring semester. A Field Experience of one credit hour in the fall and one credit hour in the spring involves observing in local public schools, private schools or charter schools. Students in the program earn institutional credit and a completion certificate which do not transfer as part of another degree. Students must apply to Pensacola Junior College and to the EPI for admission, and apply for a temporary certificate to teach from the state of Florida. The EPI coursework prepares students for the Professional Education Examination of the Florida Teacher Certification requirements. The other three requirements are the Subject Area Exam, a General Knowledge Exam, and graduation from a state approved teacher preparation facility.