About Teaching License Handbook

Teaching License Handbook is an independent US guide to teacher certification. How display ads fund it, why it sells no leads, and how each rule is checked.

Teaching License Handbook is an independent, plain-English guide to becoming a certified teacher in the United States. It explains the routes each state lists (traditional, alternative, apprenticeship, out-of-state, emergency and substitute), the tests each state names and what they cost, license fees and fingerprints, license levels and renewal, moving states and the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, teacher pay as three named sources report it, and federal loan relief for teachers. We cover becoming a teacher, certification by state, alternative routes, certification tests, moving, renewing and permits, and subbing, pay and loans.

This page is general information, not legal or career advice. Each state’s licensing agency decides every application, and rules, tests and fees change, often on 1 July. Confirm the current rules with the agency before you pay for a program, a test or fingerprints.

What we do

There is no national teaching license, no national test, no national fee and no national reciprocity. Each state and DC licenses its own teachers, and the rules differ more than most summaries suggest. Pennsylvania charges $50 plus a $100 discipline fee, $150 in all, for an Instructional I certificate under Act 47 of 2025 (Pennsylvania Department of Education, read 12 November 2026), while Connecticut’s Initial certificate has cost nothing since 1 October 2025 (CSDE fee table, read 13 November 2026). Pennsylvania no longer requires a basic-skills test for certification, while Nevada still requires Praxis Core, with exemptions it lists (Nevada Department of Education, read 13 November 2026).

So every route, test, fee and hour count on this site carries its source and the day we read it, and every state section links the state’s own agency, its rules and its official certificate lookup where one exists. Where we have not read a rule in a primary source, the page says “not confirmed” and points you to the agency. Where a page adds fees up, it shows each line and its source. Our how we check page explains where each kind of fact comes from, the sources we use lists the agency pages, statutes, rules and fee pages with their read dates, and fee and rule changes logs the dated changes our pages reflect. Pages are published under the Teaching License Handbook name.

What we are not

Teaching License Handbook is not a state licensing agency, an educator preparation program, a school, a university, a test vendor, a test-prep seller, a recruiter, a staffing agency, a school district, a loan servicer or a government agency. We give general information, not legal or career advice. We have not seen your transcripts, your test scores, your license, your background check or your loan records.

We never tell a reader whether they are eligible, whether they qualify, whether they will be licensed, pass a test or be hired, whether a license will transfer, or what they will earn. We never say which route, program, test date or state to choose, and we give no view on a criminal record or a discipline case. Pages explain each route, what it involves and who decides. The state licensing agency decides every application; the test vendor runs its tests and reports scores; the U.S. Department of Education and your loan servicer decide federal loan relief.

How we are funded

Teaching License Handbook is funded by display advertising. Ads may not appear yet while the site is new. Once they run, some may come from universities, preparation programs, test-prep sellers or employers. An ad is not an endorsement, a referral or a recommendation, and advertisers have no say over what we publish.

How we stay independent

No affiliate links. We earn nothing if you enrol in a program, buy test prep or sign up for anything after reading a page.
No paid placements. Nobody can pay for coverage, a mention or a better position.
No sold leads and no “request info” forms. We collect no details to pass on to programs, schools, recruiters or anyone else.
No program referrals. A preparation program appears only where a state’s own law, rule or approved-program list names it, in that list’s words and in alphabetical order, with no comment and no link to its sales pages. We link the state’s own list instead.
No rankings. We do not rank or call “best”, “fastest”, “cheapest” or “easiest” any program, school, university, test-prep seller, district or state.
Nothing for sale. We sell no courses, practice tests, guides or reports.

That is why our pages can say things a seller might not: that a basic-skills test many summaries still list is no longer required in several states, that a Praxis fee bought online carries a 3% non-refundable service fee on top (ETS Praxis Information Bulletin 2026-27, read 13 November 2026), or that the teacher compact is not a license to teach in every member state: the receiving state still decides which of its own licenses to issue (teachercompact.org, model legislation read 13 November 2026).

How pages are checked

Every page gets a fact-check against its sources, separate from the writing, and each page ends with the date its rules and fees were checked. Our editorial policy sets out each step.

Where to start

If you are starting from scratch, read how to become a teacher, then find your state in teacher certification in all 50 states and DC. The teaching route finder sets each route’s stated minimums next to your entries, and the cost calculator adds up a state’s fees, tests and fingerprints. If you already hold a license and are moving, try the reciprocity and compact checker. Tests are on certification tests by state, and loan questions on Teacher Loan Forgiveness or PSLF.