The MAT is for persons who have a bachelor?s degree and wish to obtain a teaching credential and a master?s degree simultaneously. Those who have earned a teaching credential as an undergraduate are not eligible to enroll in the MAT program. Instead they may take a Master of Arts degree (M.A.), which is an academic degree not tied to a credential.?It is permissible to take a Fifth-Year teaching credential program beyond the bachelor?s degree and then to enroll in an academic Master of Arts program. The Fifth-Year TEP does not qualify as a component of the academic Master of Arts as it does for the Master of Arts in Teaching. The Master of Arts in Teaching typically requires a minimum of 54 units post-baccalaureate coursework, though allowance is made on a case-by-case basis when qualifying transfer credit is approved. This degree is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).