How to Become a Teacher in Maryland: Tests, Fees and Routes

By the Transforming Education editorial team. Every fact on this page was checked against the source linked beside it on November 7, 2026.

No degree yet: the traditional route

For high school students, college students and anyone without a bachelor's degree. You earn the degree and the teacher preparation in one program.

Maryland-Approved Teacher Preparation Program

The standard route is completing a Maryland-approved teacher preparation program, which MSDE lists as either an approved traditional program or an approved alternative program. Applicants need a bachelor's degree or higher, completion of a program approved to lead to licensure in Maryland, and passing scores on the Maryland licensure assessments. Other pathways cover out-of-state preparation, National Board Certification, experienced Maryland nonpublic school teachers, and transcript analysis for fine arts and secondary content areas.

1. Earn a bachelor's degree or higher.
2. Complete a Maryland-approved traditional teacher preparation program in your licensure area.
3. Pass the Maryland licensure assessments for your area.
4. Apply for your initial license through the TEACH credentialing hub.

Source: msde.maryland.gov

Bachelor's in another field: the alternative route

For people who already hold a bachelor's degree in a subject other than education.

Approved alternative preparation program

Maryland approves alternative preparation programs set up by a local education agency (school system), a college or university, or a nonprofit agency. Participants hold teaching assignments with supervision and mentoring by a qualified teacher and receive a resident teacher license while in the program. Programs are approved and reviewed by the MSDE Educator Preparation and Program Approval Branch, which publishes a directory and a searchable program explorer.

1. Search the MSDE Program Explorer for an approved alternative program in your subject.
2. Apply to a program run by a school system, college or university, or nonprofit agency.
3. Receive a resident teacher license when you begin your teaching assignment.
4. Teach with supervision and mentoring from a qualified teacher while you complete the program.

Source: msde.maryland.gov

Changing careers into teaching in Maryland

If you already have a bachelor's degree and some years in another job, start with the alternative route described above. It is built for people who did not study education. The 3 programs below are on the state's approved list.

For pay context, the median annual wage for high school teachers in Maryland was $78,670 in May 2025, according to the BLS OEWS state estimates. If your background matches a subject on the state's shortage list, that list is further down this page.

State-approved alternative certification programs

Programs shown are a selection from the state's approved list, checked November 7, 2026. "Online" reflects what the program or the state says about its coursework; teaching practice is always in a real school. The full, current list is on the agency's approved-program page.

Licensed in another state

For teachers who hold a license from another state and want to teach in Maryland.

Out-of-State Professional License

Teachers who hold a valid professional license from another state or country in the area sought can qualify with a bachelor's degree or higher, or the U.S. equivalent of a foreign degree. Applicants for early childhood, elementary, generic special education or ESOL licensure must also pass an approved reading instruction assessment. Each applicant also needs one of the following: a passing score on a portfolio-based performance assessment, two years of effective or comparable evaluations, a National Board Certificate, or an effective year-end evaluation from a Maryland school employer.

1. Confirm you hold a valid professional license from another state or country in the area you want.
2. Gather proof of a bachelor's degree or higher, or the U.S. equivalent of a foreign degree.
3. Pass an approved reading instruction assessment if you are applying for early childhood, elementary, generic special education or ESOL.
4. Provide a passing portfolio-based performance assessment, two years of effective evaluations, a National Board Certificate, or an effective Maryland year-end evaluation.
5. Apply through the TEACH credentialing hub.

Source: msde.maryland.gov

Required tests, codes and qualifying scores

Maryland uses Praxis for teacher licensure. The table lists the core tests by license area, with the qualifying score and fee exactly as the source publishes them. Which tests you take depends on the license area you are seeking, so check the full list for your subject before you register.

Scores and fees change. Confirm both on the testing company's page before you register.

Fees, background check and license validity

License fees: Not confirmed in the agency pages we could check; check with the agency.

Background check

Not confirmed in the agency pages we could check; check with the agency.

Your first license

License: Initial Professional License (IPL). It is valid for 5 years. Renewable. Issued to an educator who meets the requirements of one of the pathways to initial licensure. Candidates enrolled in an alternative preparation program teach under a three-year, non-renewable Resident Teacher License issued by their employer. Source

Renewal

The Initial Professional, Professional and Advanced Professional licenses can be renewed, and advancing to the next tier is optional. Renewal requires either a National Board Certification earned or maintained during the validity period of the expiring license, or an Individualized Professional Development Plan showing 90 Professional Development Points with at least one hour in each of four areas: content or pedagogy, English learners, students with disabilities or differentiated instruction, and culturally responsive teaching. Since July 1, 2025, employed early childhood, elementary, special education and ESOL teachers must also show proficiency in scientific reading instruction at renewal. Requirement: 90 Professional Development Points per renewal, or a National Board Certification earned within the license's validity period. Source

Teacher pay in Maryland

Elementary teachers in Maryland earned a median of $77,680 a year in May 2025, $13,710 above the national median of $63,970. Half of teachers in each occupation earn more than the median and half earn less. What you earn in a given district depends on its salary schedule, your experience and any graduate credits.

Annual wages, cross-industry estimates, from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025 state tables, retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on November 7, 2026. Special education teachers are shown separately; our guide to the online master's in special education covers the add-on and initial-license options.

Teacher shortage areas, 2026-27

Maryland reported these subject areas to the US Department of Education as teacher shortage areas for the 2026-27 school year.

• Academic Intervention: Remedial Reading (statewide)
• Art and Music Education: Art, Dance, Music, Theatre (statewide)
• Career and Technical Education: Agro-Science and Natural Resources, Business Education, Computer Science, Family and Consumer Science, Professional Technical, Technology Preparation (statewide)
• Core Subjects: Elementary Education (statewide)
• Early Childhood: General Curriculum/ Early Childhood (statewide)
• English as a Second Language: English as a Second Language (statewide)
• Health and Physical Fitness: Health Science, Physical Education (statewide)
• Language Arts: English (statewide)
• Mathematics (statewide)
• Science: Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, General Science, Physical Science, Physics (statewide)
• Social Studies (statewide)
• Special Education: Generic Special Education, Hearing Impairment, Severely and Profoundly Handicapped, Visual Impairment (statewide)
• World Languages: Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish (statewide)

Source: US Department of Education, Teacher Shortage Areas report, retrieved November 7, 2026.