Get Your Teaching Credential

Congratulations on taking the first steps to becoming a teacher. Entering the education profession is both challenging and rewarding, providing you with the opportunity to impact the lives of students and communities across the country and across the world. By earning your Masters in Teaching or Masters in Education, you will become well-versed in the skills, research, and pedagogical tools needed to excel in or outside of the classroom. Teachers are role models and pillars of the community, providing insight, support, and inspiration to both their students and their communities.

General requirements for teaching credentials include obtaining your Bachelor’s degree and completing a teacher education program. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico require their teachers be licensed to teach in public schools. However, the specific requirements for teacher certification vary on a state-by-state basis.

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The rules for licensure are set by each states’ board of education, and while most states require the completion of a standardized test (such as the Praxis Exam) to demonstrate subject competency and mastery of basic skills, other requirements are highly individualized. Some states require their teachers to have a degree in the subject they wish to teach. Others require teachers to receive certification for each individual subject they teach or even certification for the specific grade they plan on teaching.

Teachers can be licensed in early childhood education (preschool through third grade), elementary education (first grade through sixth or eighth), middle school (roughly grades five through eight), secondary education (usually a specific subject area from seventh through twelfth grade) or a specific field, such as reading, writing, English as a second language or special education.

Many states also require teaching experience as a student teacher under the supervision of a licensed teacher, which is often incorporated into a teacher education program. Most states have reciprocity agreements that recognize portions of a teacher’s licensure from other states, allowing educators a greater degree of flexibility in moving from place to place for work.