Teaching Standard Certificate
First Time Applicant
Who Applies?
- A first time Standard Teaching Certificate is for an applicant who has been employed as a teacher for two consecutive years in the last five years while holding a regular teaching certificate.
Where is it valid?
- The Standard Teaching Certificate is valid for teaching in all Nebraska schools.
When does it expire?
- A Standard Teaching Certificate is a 5-year certificate that expires September 30th in the fifth year following issuance.
What are the requirements for this certificate?
- If someone already holds an initial Nebraska Teaching Certificate, they are eligible to advance to a standard with an application and verification of employment experience.
- If someone does not already hold a NE teaching certificate, the requirements for a Standard Teaching Certificate include the following:
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- An application and fee in the TEACH system (Please note that registration for TEACH is required first; then an application can be submitted.)
- Fingerprints (required only if someone has lived outside of Nebraska in the past five years
- Educator Certificate – A valid, unincumbered certificate from another state.
- Employment Verification – This form is required for those who have employment experience in a school district/system outside of Nebraska. Your previous employer does need to sign this form.
If you do not have a valid teaching certificate or your certificate from out-of-state has expired, please see our Alternative Teaching Permit page.
More information on how to send supporting documents can be found in the FAQ section of this website.
Renewals
If you have 0.5 FTE years of experience in the last 5 years, you qualify to renew your Standard Teaching Certificate.
If you hold a Nebraska Initial teaching certificate and have taught for 2 consecutive years, you are eligible to advance to a Standard teaching certificate.
To advance to a Professional teaching certificate applicants must have taught for two consecutive years and meet the following:
- Submit an official transcript of a Master’s degree earned within ten years of the date of application from a standard institution of higher education in Curriculum and Instruction, SPED, Education Technology or in the applicant’s content area
To renew without teaching experience before or after expiration, applicants need to obtain six semester credit hours from a 4-year standard institution of higher education in education-related coursework.
If you have a job offer but do not hold a valid teaching certificate and have not obtained the 6-credit hours, you could qualify for our Alternative Program Teaching Permit.
FAQs
I accidently applied for the wrong certificate but it won’t let me change it. How do I fix this?
- If you reach out to our office at nde.tcertweb@nebraska.gov and let us know, we can change over your application.
If I currently hold an administrative certificate, do I need to also hold a teaching certificate?
- No, your administrative certificate carries your teaching endorsements so there is no need to hold both types of certificates.
Can I use subbing experience to renew my teaching certificate?
- Unfortunately, we do not count substitute teaching experience towards the renewal of your teaching certificate. There are additional ways of renewing your teaching certificate without teaching experience.
I applied for a professional teaching certificate, but I was given a standard. Why did I not get a professional?
- A professional teaching certificate requires completion of a masters in curriculum and instruction or your content area within the last 10 years. If we do not have transcripts on file that show this or have not heard from you, we will renew what you currently have as long as you qualify.
I have a professional teaching certificate in another state, why don’t I hold one here?
- Each state has different requirements and names for their teaching certificate. Our team works hard to determine the best certificate applicants qualify for.
Do I need to move to a standard teaching certificate after two years even if my initial doesn’t expire for 5 years?
- No, you may continue to teach on your initial teaching certificate until it expires and then you may apply to move to a standard teaching certificate as long as you have two consecutive years of teaching experience.