Renew your Iowa teaching license with accredited online courses
A Standard License lasts 5 years and takes 6 renewal credits plus mandatory reporter training. One Individual Professional Development Plan can cover 3 of those 6, so many Iowa teachers need only 3 credits. Self-paced, 100% online, with an official transcript.
Are you renewing your license or advancing your salary?
Renew my Iowa license
Earn the renewal credits your license needs, through graduate semester credits from regionally accredited universities.
See what the Board requiresAdvance my salary
Earn graduate credits that count toward your renewal and toward the district salary schedule where you teach.
Explore salary advancementIowa teaching license renewal requirements
Iowa educator licensing runs through the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, which sits within the Iowa Department of Education. A Standard License is valid for 5 years and renewing it takes 6 renewal credits plus the mandatory reporter training for child and dependent adult abuse. A Master Educator License is also valid for 5 years and takes 4 renewal credits plus the same training.
The three Iowa teaching licenses
What renewal takes depends on which license you hold.
Valid 2 years and may be renewed twice. No coursework is required to renew it beyond the mandatory reporter training. The second and final renewal also needs proof of contracted employment leading to the Standard License.
The license most Iowa teachers hold. 6 renewal credits plus mandatory reporter training.
Iowa’s advanced teaching license. 4 renewal credits plus mandatory reporter training.
The Master Educator license
The Master Educator license is Iowa’s advanced teaching license. Converting to it from the Standard License takes a master’s degree in a recognized endorsement area, or in curriculum, effective teaching or a similar program focused on school curriculum or instruction, plus 5 years of teaching experience and the Standard License renewal requirements. Once you hold it, renewal drops to 4 renewal credits rather than 6. Holders of a specialist or doctoral degree renew a Master Educator license with 2 renewal credits.
Credits need to be earned after the issue date of your current license, or be no more than 5 years old if your license has expired. They should be relevant to education or to an endorsement area you hold.
Every renewal requires current training in child and dependent adult abuse reporting. It is separate from your renewal credits and Model Teaching does not provide it.
How many renewal credits do I actually need?
Your license sets the number, and a qualifying Individual Professional Development Plan cuts it in half. Pick your combination.
What you need
You need 3 renewal credits. A qualifying Individual Professional Development Plan covers the other 3 of the 6 a Standard License requires, plus mandatory reporter training.
You need 6 renewal credits, plus mandatory reporter training. This is the full Standard License requirement with no IPDP applied.
You need 2 renewal credits. A qualifying IPDP covers 2 of the 4 a Master Educator License requires, plus mandatory reporter training.
You need 4 renewal credits, plus mandatory reporter training. Holders of a specialist or doctoral degree renew on 2 instead.
Our 3-credit bundle covers this exactly. Confirm your IPDP qualifies with your district before you buy.
See the bundleOur 6-credit bundle covers this exactly.
See the bundleTwo single courses, or a 3-credit bundle if you want a credit in hand for next cycle.
See the bundleOur 3-credit bundle plus a single course, or a 6-credit bundle if you want credits banked toward a master’s.
See the bundleAn Initial License needs no coursework to renew, only the mandatory reporter training. Confirm your own requirement with the Board of Educational Examiners before you buy anything.
Source: Iowa Department of Education, More Renewal Information and Standard Teaching License.
What counts toward your Iowa renewal credits
Iowa counts renewal in renewal credits, and it is specific about where they can come from.
- Graduate-level semester credits. Semester hours of college credit from a college or university whose institutional accreditation is recognized by the US Department of Education. This is the route we offer. Our university partners are regionally accredited institutions, and every course produces an official transcript. (Recommended.)
- An Individual Professional Development Plan. Worth up to half your required credits. 3 of the 6 on a Standard License, 2 of the 4 on a Master Educator License.
- Licensure renewal credits from approved Iowa providers. Iowa’s Area Education Agencies, the Iowa State Education Association, Professional Educators of Iowa, Iowa Safe Schools, Members Impacting Students: Improving Curriculum, and School Administrators of Iowa. Model Teaching is not one of these approved Iowa providers. Our courses go the other route Iowa accepts, which is college credit.
- National Board certification. 4 renewal credits for successful completion, usable once toward either the Standard or Master Educator license, and 4 again for each renewal of the National Board certification.
- Serving as a cooperating teacher for an Iowa teacher education program, up to 2 credits, verified by an official certificate from the Iowa college.
- A micro-externship. 1 renewal credit per experience, minimum 40 hours, in business or industry rather than education, pre-approved by your district.
What you will need to show: an official transcript for college credit. Download a syllabus from any Model Teaching course page if you want to check a course with the Board or your district before you enroll.
Source: Iowa Department of Education, More Renewal Information.
How Model Teaching courses fit Iowa renewal credit requirements
Iowa accepts semester hours of college credit from institutions whose accreditation is recognized by the US Department of Education, and our university-partnered courses carry graduate-level semester credits from regionally accredited university partners. Every course produces an official transcript and letter grade, which is the documentation the Board asks for, and the coursework is education-focused, which is what Iowa means by relevant to education or an endorsement area. Courses are self-paced and 100% online with 1 year of access. Before you enroll, work out how many credits you actually need: if your district runs an Individual Professional Development Plan and you have a qualifying one, it covers 3 of the 6 credits on a Standard License. Confirm your specific renewal requirements with the Board of Educational Examiners so you buy the right number.
Read more about Iowa teaching license renewal and renewal credits
Iowa educator licensing runs through the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, which sits within the Iowa Department of Education at educate.iowa.gov. Teachers searching for the Iowa Department of Education rather than the Board are in the right place.
Iowa issues teaching licenses in tiers. An Initial License is valid for 2 years and may be renewed twice, and no coursework is required to renew it beyond the mandatory reporter training for child and dependent adult abuse. A Standard License is valid for 5 years and takes 6 renewal credits plus that same training. A Master Educator License, Iowa’s advanced teaching license, is also valid for 5 years and takes 4 renewal credits. Holders of a specialist or doctoral degree renew a Master Educator license with 2 credits.
The most useful thing to know before spending money is that you may need fewer renewal credits than the headline number. Iowa allows one Individual Professional Development Plan, the annual goal-setting many Iowa districts already run with an evaluator, to count for up to half the credits your license requires. On a Standard License that is 3 of the 6. On a Master Educator license it is 2 of the 4. The plan has to be signed by you and your evaluator, completed in an Iowa school setting because it is based on the Iowa teaching standards, and completed after your current license was issued or no more than 5 years old if the license has lapsed.
The credits themselves have to come from the right places. Iowa accepts semester hours of college credit from a college or university whose institutional accreditation is recognized by the US Department of Education, and it accepts licensure renewal credits from a specific short list of approved Iowa providers, which includes the Area Education Agencies, the Iowa State Education Association, Professional Educators of Iowa, Iowa Safe Schools, Members Impacting Students: Improving Curriculum, and School Administrators of Iowa. Model Teaching is not one of those approved Iowa providers; our courses are college credit, which is the other route. Credits also have to be earned after the issue date of your current license, or be no more than 5 years old if it has expired, and they should be relevant to education or to an endorsement you hold.
Several other things earn Iowa renewal credits and are worth knowing about because they may reduce what you buy. National Board certification is worth 4 renewal credits, usable once toward either the Standard or Master Educator license, and 4 again for each National Board renewal. Serving as a cooperating teacher for an Iowa teacher education program earns up to 2 credits. A micro-externship, a content-related work experience in business or industry pre-approved by your district, earns 1 credit for a minimum of 40 hours.
Iowa teachers also search for recertification and for renewal credits for Iowa teachers. The Board issues licenses rather than certificates, the unit is the renewal credit, and a Standard License takes 6 of them over 5 years. The official requirements are published on the Iowa renewal information page and the Standard Teaching License page.
Your district plan may already cover half your renewal credits
Iowa lets you count one Individual Professional Development Plan, the annual goal-setting you may already do with your evaluator, toward up to half the renewal credits your license requires. Most Iowa teachers do not realize this, and it changes how many credits you actually need to buy.
Source: Iowa Department of Education, More Renewal Information.
A completed spring IPDP signed by you and your evaluator, uploaded with your renewal application. It should include specific goals, planned activities, alignment to your building or district goals and to the Iowa teaching standards, the data you collected, and how the goal affected student learning. It has to have been completed after your current license was issued, or be no more than 5 years old if the license has expired.
The plan has to be completed in an Iowa school setting, because it is built on the Iowa teaching standards. If you have not been working in an Iowa school, plan on the full credit count.
If you are renewing a Standard License and you have a qualifying IPDP, 3 credits, not 6. If you do not, 6.
Build your own Iowa renewal credit bundle
Buy your credits once, then choose any courses until you have what your license needs.
What a Standard License takes alongside a qualifying IPDP. $149 up front, then $70 per credit as you finish.
- Graduate semester credits from regionally accredited university partners
- Official transcript and letter grade on every course
- Education-focused coursework, relevant to your endorsement area
- Self-paced, 100% online, with 1 year of access
No qualifying IPDP? 6 credits covers a Standard renewal
A full Standard License renewal without an IPDP. $199 up front, then $70 per credit as you finish.
- The full 6 renewal credits a Standard License requires
- Official transcript and letter grade from a regionally accredited university partner
- Credits also apply toward a master’s degree
- Choose any courses from the full course menu
Need a different size? See all credit bundles
Graduate credits and official transcripts are issued directly by our university partners
Move up your Iowa salary schedule with graduate credits
Iowa districts set their own salary schedules through collective bargaining, and graduate credits and degrees are the usual way teachers move into a higher lane. How many credits a lane takes and what it is worth are decided locally, so check your district’s schedule first. Graduate credits earned for a lane change are also the kind of college credit Iowa accepts toward license renewal, so the same coursework can serve both.
Accredited transcripts
Every university-partnered course produces an official transcript and letter grade from a regionally accredited university partner, which is the documentation a district asks for on a lane change and the Board asks for at renewal.
Rolling credit processing
Credits are processed on a rolling basis. Request your transcript when you finish a course rather than waiting for a term to close.
Credits count twice
Graduate credits that move you on your district’s salary schedule are also college credit toward your Iowa renewal credits.
Choose how you earn your credits
Graduate credit bundles charge a one-time bundle fee plus 70 dollars per credit when you finish a course and request your transcript.
Due now to access and take your courses.
Then $70 per credit as you go
$359 total for 3 credits.
- 3 semester credits, which is what most Standard License holders need alongside a qualifying IPDP
- Official transcript and letter grade from a regionally accredited university partner
- Education-focused coursework, relevant to your endorsement area
Due now to access and take your courses.
Then $70 per credit as you go
$619 total for 6 credits.
- 6 semester credits, for teachers renewing without an IPDP
- Credits also apply toward a master’s degree
- Official transcript and letter grade on every course
One course, one semester credit.
1 semester credit
Useful for topping up a renewal you have nearly finished.
- 1 semester credit of graduate-level college credit
- Official transcript and letter grade
- Self-paced, 100% online, 1 year of access
A Standard License takes 6 renewal credits and a Master Educator license takes 4, and a qualifying IPDP covers half of either. Confirm your requirement with the Board of Educational Examiners before buying.
Larger bundles are on the credit bundle page.
View bundled optionsFrequently asked questions
Common questions about Iowa teaching license renewal, renewal credits and the IPDP.
Requirements How many renewal credits does an Iowa teaching license take?
A Standard License takes 6 renewal credits over 5 years, plus mandatory reporter training for child and dependent adult abuse. A Master Educator License takes 4. An Initial License takes no coursework beyond the training.
Credits Can an IPDP really cover half my renewal credits?
Yes. One Individual Professional Development Plan is worth 3 of the 6 credits on a Standard License and 2 of the 4 on a Master Educator License. It must be signed by you and your evaluator and completed in an Iowa school setting, since it is based on the Iowa teaching standards.
Credits What kind of credits does Iowa accept?
Semester hours of college credit from a college or university whose institutional accreditation is recognized by the US Department of Education, and licensure renewal credits from Iowa’s approved providers such as the Area Education Agencies. Credits should be relevant to education or an endorsement area you hold.
Process When do my credits have to be earned?
After the issue date of your current license, or no more than 5 years before applying if your license has expired.
Requirements What is the Iowa Master Educator license?
Iowa’s advanced teaching license, valid 5 years. Converting from the Standard License takes a master’s degree in a recognized endorsement area or in curriculum or effective teaching, plus 5 years of teaching experience. It renews on 4 renewal credits rather than 6, or 2 for specialist and doctoral degree holders.
Process Does Iowa licensing go through the Department of Education?
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners issues and renews educator licenses, and it sits within the Iowa Department of Education. If you started at the Department of Education you are in the right place.
Process Is Model Teaching an approved Iowa renewal credit provider?
No. Iowa’s approved provider list covers organizations such as the Area Education Agencies and the Iowa State Education Association. Our courses go the other route Iowa accepts, which is college credit from a regionally accredited university, with an official transcript.
Requirements Do I need mandatory reporter training as well?
Yes. Every Iowa renewal requires current child and dependent adult abuse reporter training. It sits alongside your renewal credits and Model Teaching does not provide it.
Salary Can renewal credits also raise my pay?
In many cases, yes. Iowa districts bargain their own salary schedules, and graduate credits are the usual route to a higher lane. The same college credit counts toward your Iowa renewal credits.
Ready to earn your Iowa renewal credits?
Work out your number first. A Standard License takes 6, a Master Educator license takes 4, and a qualifying IPDP covers half of either, at your own pace and fully online.
Model Teaching strives to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information on renewal and salary advancement requirements for every state. Requirements can change and vary by district, so we encourage you to do your own research and confirm exactly what you need with the Board of Educational Examiners and your district before you enroll.
