Effective 13 November 2026.
Teaching License Handbook gives general information only. It is 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.
General information only
Everything on Teaching License Handbook (teachinglicensehandbook.com) is general information, published to help readers understand how teacher certification, licensing tests, fees, renewal, substitute permits, moving states, teacher pay data and federal loan relief for teachers work in the US. It is not legal advice and not career advice, and it does not take your degree, transcripts, test scores, license, experience, background, loans, state or circumstances into account.
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. It does not issue, evaluate or verify licenses, run tests, admit students, place teachers or service loans, and it acts for none of these bodies. Nothing you send us is an application, a filing or a notice to any agency.
Who decides
The state licensing agency decides every application for a certificate, license, credential or permit, including whether your program, tests, experience or out-of-state license meet its rules and which of its licenses, if any, it issues. The test vendor runs its tests, sets its fees and policies and reports scores, and the state decides which tests and scores it accepts. A district or school decides whom it hires. For federal student loans and grants, the U.S. Department of Education and your loan servicer decide.
No view on your case
Nothing on this site says whether you are eligible, whether you qualify, whether you will be licensed, pass a test or be hired, whether your license will transfer, or what you will earn. Nothing on this site says which route, program, test, test date or state to choose. We give no view on a criminal record, a background check result or a discipline case; the agency decides those under its own rules. Those decisions are yours and the agency’s.
Rules differ by state and change
There is no national teaching license, test, fee or reciprocity. Each state and DC sets its own license levels, routes, tests, passing scores, fees, fingerprint rules, renewal hours and substitute rules, and a rule on one state’s page does not apply in another. Rules, tests and fees change, often on 1 July, fingerprint vendor fees often on 1 October, and Praxis fees with each testing year on 1 August. Every state figure on this site shows the day we read it, and it may have changed since. Where we have not read a state’s rule, the page says “not confirmed”, and that tells you nothing about what the rule is.
Pay figures are estimates, not offers
Pay figures come from named sources: the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ OEWS survey, NEA’s figures (the teachers’ union’s estimates) and state minimum salary schedules, each with its year. They are estimates and legal minimums, not offers, and they are not what any reader will earn. A district’s own salary schedule and contract set what it pays.
Tools show estimates and stated rules, not decisions
Our tools do arithmetic on what you enter and on the state rules and fees they show, as read on the dates given. The route finder sets a state’s stated minimums beside your entries; it can’t check your GPA, transcripts, background check or a district’s decision. The cost calculator’s total is an estimate, not a quote, and the lines you type in are your own figures. The reciprocity checker shows a state’s out-of-state route and the compact’s status as read; the receiving state decides the equivalent license. The loan comparison uses only your numbers; your servicer and the Department of Education decide.
Before you pay
Before you pay for a preparation program, a test, a fingerprint appointment or an application, confirm with the state licensing agency that it is the program, test or step your route needs, and check the fee on the agency’s or vendor’s own page. Check a program’s approval on the state’s own approved-program list. Do not rely on a figure here if the date shown is old or a change date has passed.
Programs and other names
A preparation program is named on this site only where a state’s own law, rule or list names it, and naming it is not a recommendation or a statement about its quality, cost or results. Names of agencies, test vendors, tests, programs and publishers are used only to identify them, and we are not affiliated with any of them.
Accuracy
Pages are checked against the sources they cite, but no check catches everything. Check important details with the state agency, the test vendor or studentaid.gov before you rely on them. See also our terms of use.
How our content is made
Every page is fact-checked against its sources before it is published. Pages appear under the Teaching License Handbook name. Our editorial policy and how we check page explain the process.
Advertising and independence
Teaching License Handbook is funded by display advertising. Advertisers have no say over what we publish, and an ad on a page, including an ad for a university, a preparation program, a test-prep seller or an employer, is not an endorsement or a referral. We use no affiliate links, accept no paid placements, sell no leads, run no “request info” forms, make no program referrals and publish no rankings.
External links
We link to state agencies, statutes and rules, test vendors’ official pages, the teacher compact, federal agencies and NEA so you can check what we say. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content.
Questions and corrections
If you think something is wrong, email contact@teachinglicensehandbook.com with the page address and a source, and we will look at it. We can’t answer questions about anyone’s license, application, test scores, record or loans. See also our corrections page.