How to Become a Teacher in Pennsylvania: 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.

Traditional Program

The traditional route is a bachelor's degree program at one of Pennsylvania's more than 100 PDE-approved preparation providers, including student teaching. After graduating, candidates pass the content area tests for their subject and apply for the Instructional I certificate through the Teacher Information Management System (TIMS). Bachelor's degree holders without an education component can instead complete a master's or post-baccalaureate certification program.

1. Choose the certificate type and subject area to teach.
2. Enroll in a PDE-approved certification program for that area.
3. Complete the program, including student teaching, and graduate.
4. Pass the required content area tests at the Pennsylvania scores.
5. Apply for the Instructional I certificate in TIMS with the program's recommendation.

Source: pa.gov

Bachelor's in another field: the alternative route

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

Experience-Based Program (formerly intern)

The Experience-Based program is an alternative route for bachelor's degree holders through a PDE-approved provider. After meeting the provider's entrance requirements and passing the content area tests, candidates receive an Experience-Based certificate, valid for 5 years of service, that lets them fill a full-time teaching position while finishing the program. The state also lists the American Board route, completed with Point Park University, as an approved alternative pathway.

1. Choose the certificate type and subject area to teach.
2. Apply to a PDE-approved Experience-Based program provider and meet its entrance requirements.
3. Pass the content area tests for the program's subject.
4. Apply in TIMS for the Experience-Based certificate.
5. Complete the provider's program while teaching.
6. Apply in TIMS for the Instructional I certificate.

Source: pa.gov

Changing careers into teaching in Pennsylvania

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 15 programs below are on the state's approved list, and one of them says its coursework is online.

For pay context, the median annual wage for high school teachers in Pennsylvania was $78,800 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 Pennsylvania.

Out-of-State Educators, Pathway 1 (certificate and experience)

Educators with an active professional-level out-of-state certificate and two years of successful experience in the area can apply for the comparable Pennsylvania Level I certificate. They take the Pennsylvania content tests unless they show a comparable certificate, an approved program with student teaching, passed content tests in that state and two years of satisfactory service; the Fundamental Subjects test is not required on this pathway. Pennsylvania belongs to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, and applicants without a license or the required experience use Pathway 2, which requires the Pennsylvania tests.

1. Identify the comparable Pennsylvania certificate.
2. Submit the Level I application and fee in TIMS.
3. Upload a copy of the current professional-level out-of-state certificate.
4. Have employers complete Verification of Experience Form PDE 338V for two years of experience.
5. Request official transcripts after submitting the application.
6. Have required content test scores reported to PDE unless a testing exception applies.

Source: pa.gov

Required tests, codes and qualifying scores

Pennsylvania uses Praxis and PECT (Pennsylvania Educator Certification Tests) 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

Background check

Pennsylvania school law requires applicants for employment in public and private schools, and student teacher candidates, who will have direct contact with students to complete three background checks: the Department of Human Services Child Abuse History Clearance, the Pennsylvania State Police criminal records check, and the federal fingerprint-based Criminal History Record Information check. The clearances are tied to school employment and student teaching rather than to the certificate application. Source

Your first license

License: Instructional I (Level I) certificate. It is valid for 6 years of service. Validity counts years of actual Pennsylvania service, not calendar years. Holders must earn the Level II (permanent) certificate before completing 6 years of service. Source

Renewal

Instructional I holders convert to the permanent Instructional II before completing six years of Pennsylvania service by earning 24 credits after the bachelor's degree, completing three years of satisfactory service and a PDE-approved induction program; otherwise the certificate lapses. To keep a certificate active, educators complete Act 48 continuing education, tracked in the PERMS system; otherwise it becomes inactive. Requirement: 180 Act 48 hours per continuing education period (or 6 collegiate credits, or 6 PDE-approved CPE credits). Source

Teacher pay in Pennsylvania

Elementary teachers in Pennsylvania earned a median of $77,060 a year in May 2025, $13,090 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

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

• Core Subjects: Elementary Education (statewide)
• Mathematics (statewide)
• Science: Life Sciences (statewide)
• Special Education: All Exceptionalities (statewide)

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