Certification Requirements for Teacher Education

Requirements for an Initial Certificate

Upon successful completion of your program and passing scores on New York State Teacher Certification Exams (NYSTCE), you will apply for Initial Certification. The Initial Certification is valid for five years; first year of teaching must be mentored. During this five-year period, you must complete requirements for the professional certificate. For more information, visit New York State Department of Education’s Certification Requirements FAQs page.

Important Note: New testing requirements for initial certification of teachers and school building leaders are scheduled to be implemented beginning with candidates graduating from NYS educator preparation programs in May 2014. As currently planned, teacher and school building leader candidates graduating in May 2014 or after will need to pass a new set of New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NYSTCE). For more information on these new requirements, visit the NYS Office of Teacher Certification exam information page.

Steps to Initial Certification

Completion of all SUNY Plattsburgh’s degree requirements
Successful completion of all required New York State Teacher Certification Exams. See information below and visit http://www.nystce.nesinc.com
Completion of a TEACH Waiver Consent Form and the TEACH Online Application for Certification (See “Important Certification Links” below)
Payment of applicable fees for the TEACH application
Fingerprinting. Note: a new fingerprint process is in effect on August 3, 2015
- July 10, 2015 is the last day to submit new digital fingerprints (after this date, Livescan locations will no longer have the ability to transmit a new record)
- Please visit New York State Education Department’s Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability for current information about fingerprinting requirements
U.S. citizenship is not required for initial certification

Requirements for a Professional Certificate

Master’s degree: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/relatedmasters.htm
Three years teaching experience — first year of teaching must be mentored
Renewed every five years with 175 hours of professional development
Professional certification is available only to citizens and lawfully admitted permanent residents of the United States

Additional Information

Important Certification Links

Updates on Required New York State Teacher Certification Exams (NYSTCE)
- New York State Education Department
- SUNY Plattsburgh Director of Certification
TEACH Online Application and Database System
- TEACH Online Services
- A TEACH Waiver Consent Form must be completed for SUNY Plattsburgh to recommend you for certification! Log onto BANNER, go to Student Menu and click on Student Records Menu. Click on "Teach Waiver Consent Form" and click “ACCEPT.”
- Information concerning the New York State Certification Exams (preparation guides, test frameworks, NYSTCE registration information, and test dates & locations).
- Check the current status of an application submitted to the Office of Teaching Initiatives within the past five years.
- The Teacher Certification Office can only recommend SUNY College at Plattsburgh graduates to the New York State Department of Education for teacher certification after they have completed an approved teacher preparation program. The Teacher Certification Office also verifies program completion for graduates applying for out of state certification and serves as a resource for a variety of teacher certification related topics.

Teacher Certification Guides & Forms

Teaching in Other States

Reciprocal Agreements

New York has interstate contracts (Reciprocal Certification Agreements) with more than 40 other states and jurisdictions.

If you need to verify the completion of a SUNY College at Plattsburgh approved teacher preparation program for certification purposes in another state, please send the out of state verification form with a stamped envelope containing the address to which you would like the verification sent to the attention of the director of certification.