Educators in a licensed private academic school are required to be certified in the subject area they are teaching. A private academic certificate is required if they do not hold the appropriate public school certificate.
- Be of good moral character
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Be a U.S. citizen or legally authorized to work in the U.S. A permanent resident immigrant visa holder is legally authorized to work in the U.S.
- Meet the educational requirements for the certificate that you are seeking
- Submit an online application through the Teacher Information Management System (TIMS)
- Submit a completed health certificate
A bachelor's degree is required for all subject areas of certification except Assistant Nursery/Kindergarten (N/K). An associate's degree or completion of 60 college credits is required for the Assistant N/K certification.
The Guidelines and Competencies for Private Academic Teacher Certification provides both an overview of the degree requirement, if applicable, and semester-hour credit requirement of each available subject area. In addition, it provides sample competency areas and the recommended number of competencies that must be addressed by coursework. The Subject Specific and Framework Guidelines for public certification are used as an example of the acceptable competencies for each comparable subject area.
Per 22 Pa. Code 51.34(d)(2), graduate or undergraduate credits earned at regionally or nationally accredited or state-approved associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree-granting institutions will be considered. Coursework must meet the minimal grade of "C." Credits or hours earned at an intermediate unit are not acceptable.
A maximum of 3 credits based on CLEP tests can be accepted toward the content credits.
Yes, a one year temporary certificate can be issued if you hold a bachelor's degree and have completed 6 credits in the content area requested.
An application must be submitted through TIMS and include a request from the prospective employer written on school letterhead and signed by the school's PDE approved education director.
A temporary certificate can be reissued if the applicant completes six of the required credits toward full certification. If the temporary certificate expires before the six credits are completed, a new temporary certificate cannot be issued until the credit requirement is met.
Yes. A separate TIMS application must be submitted for each subject area that you are requesting.
After you pay and submit your application in TIMS, you will be provided with a cover sheet that indicates which documents are required for submission. Most documents can be uploaded directly into your application or submitted electronically. If you have documents that cannot be uploaded directly or submitted electronically, they must be submitted to PDE via mail with the cover sheet.
NOTE: If your coversheet only lists "Other", you are not required to submit any documentation. Please do not mail in the coversheet by itself as it is not needed.
No. Only submit clearance documents to PDE if you answered "yes" to any of the background questions on your application. Check your TIMS coversheet for a list of required documents.
No. More information on submitting your college transcripts is available on our website.
Check all details regarding your application from your TIMS dashboard - select “Track Progress” under the Comments section.
No. Paper certificates are no longer printed and mailed. You must access your TIMS dashboard to print an unofficial copy. Certification can only be officially verified through TIMS or the public link Search for an Educator.
If you hold a public certificate issued before 6/2013 or a previous private academic certificate, you have already met this requirement and the health certificate is not required a second time. If required, the approved health certificate that prints out with your TIMS application cover sheet must be completed. Substitute health assessments are not acceptable.
Yes. You must submit with your TIMS application a copy of your valid employment authorization document (EAD) indicating you are legally authorized to work in the U.S. A permanent resident immigrant visa is an EAD indicating you are legally authorized to work in the U.S.
You must obtain a Foreign Evaluation Report of your foreign transcripts from a private agency listed on the NACES or AICE websites. This evaluation must show US equivalent of all foreign degrees plus a course-by-course evaluation showing semester hour college credits. You must submit the original report or a notarized photocopy for the certification application.
A private academic certificate is valid for 99 years.
No. However, the nonpublic/non-licensed school may choose to require certification.
The law does not mandate Act 48 requirements be met to maintain an active private academic certificate.
Yes, but only in a licensed private academic school that does not require public certification. Private schools that also have Approved Private School status or Pre-K-Counts approval require an active public certificate.
If you have questions regarding the Private Academic certification process, contact the Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality.