How to Become a Teacher in South Carolina: 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 Preparation Program Pathway

Candidates who complete an approved educator preparation program at an institution that meets State Board accreditation requirements may apply for certification in the field they prepared for. As with every South Carolina pathway, the application requires a non-refundable fee, the fingerprinting process and a set of supporting documents specific to the pathway. Educators prepared in another country may have their programs and coursework reviewed by an approved credential evaluation service as part of the initial application.

1. Decide which certification fields and endorsements you plan to pursue
2. Complete an approved educator preparation program at an institution meeting State Board accreditation requirements
3. Submit a certification application with the supporting documents your pathway requires
4. Pay the non-refundable application fee
5. Complete the fingerprinting process

Source: ed.sc.gov

Bachelor's in another field: the alternative route

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

Alternative Program Participant Pathway

Alternative certification programs let people with at least a conferred bachelor's degree from an institution meeting State Board accreditation requirements teach in a South Carolina public school while they complete program requirements. Applicants must not have student taught in a traditional preparation program or joined another South Carolina approved alternative program, and each program can add conditions such as a major in the field, a minimum GPA or a passing subject area test. Participants teach on a one-year Alternative Route certificate that is renewed each year with program progress and continued employment, and after three certified years they can advance to a five-year Professional certificate.

1. Compare the approved alternative certification programs and apply to one directly
2. When the program prompts you, apply in My SC Educator Portal with transcripts, subject area scores, fingerprinting and the $105 fee
3. Wait for the Alternative Route Statement of Eligibility letter, then get hired by a district that partners with your program
4. Finish the program's initial training and start teaching on your first Alternative Route certificate
5. Over three years, earn successful ADEPT evaluations and pass the appropriate Principles of Learning and Teaching exam
6. Request the Professional certificate through My SC Educator Portal once all program requirements are met

Source: ed.sc.gov

Changing careers into teaching in South Carolina

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 South Carolina was $62,580 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 South Carolina.

Out-of-State Certification Pathway

Through the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, South Carolina issues a certificate in comparable fields to educators holding a current, valid, standard certificate or license in good standing from another state, the District of Columbia or DoDEA. Temporary, emergency, provisional and conditional credentials are not accepted, and educators who used an alternative route elsewhere must have advanced to a standard certificate in that state. Applicants with at least 27 months of qualifying experience in the last seven years receive a Professional certificate; others receive a non-renewable Initial certificate valid for up to three school years and must pass a pedagogy assessment and complete the ADEPT summative evaluation to advance.

1. Create a My SC Educator Portal account and complete a Standard Application before anything else
2. Pay the non-refundable $105 application processing fee online
3. Complete South Carolina's fingerprinting process and criminal records review
4. Send an official transcript from each college or university attended
5. Upload a copy of your valid out-of-state credential and score reports for any certification exams
6. Submit an Educator Experience Verification Form from each employer

Source: ed.sc.gov

Required tests, codes and qualifying scores

South Carolina 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

Background check

Applicants complete South Carolina's fingerprinting process and criminal records review. Instructions for fingerprinting through the state-approved vendor appear in My SC Educator Portal only after the online application is submitted. Fingerprints taken for another state, agency or purpose cannot be used to decide eligibility for a South Carolina educator certificate. Source

Your first license

License: Initial certificate. It is valid for 3 school years. Issued to people who completed an approved undergraduate or graduate educator preparation program, mainly beginning educators or those without recent teaching experience. An educator who does not advance to the renewable Professional certificate within the three years must reapply for a new Initial certificate or may receive an annual extension at the employer's request. Alternative route participants start on a one-year Alternative Route certificate instead. Source

Renewal

A Professional certificate, typically valid for five school years, is renewed by earning 120 renewal credits during that period through the options in the State Board of Education Renewal Credit Matrix. These credits may also need to cover Read to Succeed endorsement and Jason Flatt Act suicide awareness training requirements. Any educator can use college coursework, SCDE-approved renewal courses or SCDE-approved CEUs; educators employed by a public school district or participating renewal entity have more options and request renewal through their employer, while others request it in My SC Educator Portal. An expired Professional certificate can be renewed up to ten school years past its expiration date, using credits earned in the five years before the request. Requirement: 120 renewal credits every 5 school years. Source

Teacher pay in South Carolina

Elementary teachers in South Carolina earned a median of $60,820 a year in May 2025, $3,150 below 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

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

• Academically Advanced: Gifted Education (in some districts or regions)
• Art and Music Education: Art, Dance, Music, Theatre (in some districts or regions)
• Career and Technical Education: Agricultural Science and Technology, Business, Marketing and Information Technology (BMIT), Family and Consumer Science, Industrial Technology (in some districts or regions)
• Computer Science (in some districts or regions)
• Core Subjects: Elementary Education, Montessori Education (in some districts or regions)
• Drivers Education: Driver and Traffic Safety Education (in some districts or regions)
• English as a Second Language: English as a Second Language (in some districts or regions)
• Health and Physical Fitness: Health Science, Physical Education (in some districts or regions)
• Language Arts: English, Literacy (in some districts or regions)
• Mathematics: Basic and Advanced Mathematics (in some districts or regions)
• Science: General Science (in some districts or regions)
• Social Studies (in some districts or regions)
• Special Education: All Exceptionalities (in some districts or regions)
• Support Staff: Counseling, Library/Media Specialist, Psychologist, Speech language pathologist/audiologist (in some districts or regions)
• World Languages: Any World Language (in some districts or regions)

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