A minimum of 126 hours is required for graduation. Students pursuing this major select from two concentrations: agricultural leadership education or agricultural science education. Students completing the agricultural science education concentration will be eligible for Illinois teacher certification in agricultural education, and will have instruction in key pedagogical areas as well as agriculture.

The Council on Teacher Education (CoTE) is the professional education unit for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. CoTE oversees the 30 programs that prepare teachers, school leaders, and school service personnel for licensure by the State of Illinois. The three major responsibility areas of CoTE are (1) licensure of candidates; (2) accreditation of professional education programs; and (3) supervision of preservice field experiences. CoTE provides services to students, faculty, college and campus administration, and the state of Illinois.

Professional education preparation programs are offered in the Colleges of Education; Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Liberal Arts and Sciences; Applied Health Sciences; Fine and Applied Arts; the Graduate College; the School of Social Work; and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science.