Kentucky teacher certificate renewal and rank advancement
Kentucky renews a Professional Certificate on either 3 years of teaching experience or 6 semester hours of credit. If you have been teaching full time, you likely need no coursework to renew. Where graduate credit pays off in Kentucky is rank, which is set statewide and drives your salary.
Are you renewing your certificate or advancing your rank?
Renew my Kentucky certificate
Check whether you renew on teaching experience or need 6 semester hours, and earn those credits if you do.
See what EPSB requiresAdvance my rank
Kentucky sets Rank I, II and III statewide. Earn graduate credits toward the master’s degree that moves you to Rank II.
Explore rank advancementKentucky teacher certificate renewal requirements from EPSB
Kentucky educator certification is set by the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), which operates within the Kentucky Department of Education. A Professional Certificate renews on one of two things: 3 years of successful teaching experience, or at least 6 semester hours of credit. Most teachers working full time renew on the experience route and need no coursework at all.
The two renewal routes
A Professional Certificate renews on either one. You do not need both.
3 years of successful teaching experience during the period of your certificate. Your district verifies it. No coursework, no credits, nothing to buy.
At least 6 semester hours of credit, taken at a nationally or regionally accredited postsecondary institution. This is the route for teachers who have not taught 3 of the last 5 years, including those who stepped away, worked part time, or moved into a role outside the classroom.
Which route applies to me?
Check your years in the classroom before you buy anything.
What you need
You renew on the experience route. Your district verifies your years. No coursework and nothing to buy for renewal.
You renew on the coursework route. 6 semester hours of credit from a nationally or regionally accredited postsecondary institution.
Where graduate credit is still worth it in Kentucky is rank. A master’s degree moves you from Rank III to Rank II, statewide.
See how rank worksOur 6-credit bundle carries 6 semester hours of graduate credit, which is what the coursework route asks for.
See the bundleThe first renewals of a new certificate are tied to Kentucky’s fifth-year program and rank requirements rather than the standard rule above. If you are in your first years of teaching, confirm your specific renewal requirements with EPSB and your district before planning coursework.
Renewal runs through the Kentucky Educator Certification System portal. You verify teaching experience through your district or submit official transcripts, complete the character and fitness review, and pay the fee online.
Source: 16 KAR 4:060 and EPSB, Educator Certification.
What counts toward a Kentucky renewal
Kentucky counts renewal in semester hours of credit, with no clock-hour or point conversion.
- Graduate-level semester credits. 6 semester hours renews a Professional Certificate when you are using the coursework route. Credits must come from a nationally or regionally accredited postsecondary institution, which our university partners are. (Recommended, and the route we offer.)
- Teaching experience. 3 years of successful teaching during the period of your certificate renews it with no coursework. Verified by your district. If this applies to you, you do not need to buy anything for renewal.
- Coursework toward a master’s. Graduate credits also build toward the master’s degree that moves you from Rank III to Rank II, which is a statewide salary change.
- Continuing Education Option. A route to rank change delivered by districts, cooperatives and Kentucky institutions with EPSB-approved programs. Not something we provide.
What you will need to show: for the coursework route, an official transcript. For the experience route, district verification. Download a syllabus from any Model Teaching course page if you want to check a course with your district or institution before you enroll.
Source: 16 KAR 4:060.
How Model Teaching courses fit Kentucky renewal and rank
We are useful in Kentucky in two specific situations, and it is worth naming them precisely. First, if you have not taught 3 of the last 5 years and need 6 semester hours to renew, our university-partnered courses carry graduate-level semester credits from regionally accredited university partners, which is what Kentucky’s renewal rule asks for, and 6 credits covers it. Second, if you are working toward Rank II, our credits count toward a master’s degree, and 9 of them apply to the Augustana M.Ed. Every course produces an official transcript and letter grade, is self-paced and 100% online, with 1 year of access. If you have been teaching full time and simply need to renew, you can do that on your teaching experience and you do not need us for it.
Read more about Kentucky teacher certificate renewal and rank
Kentucky educator certification is set by the Education Professional Standards Board, which operates within the Kentucky Department of Education through the Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness. Teachers searching for the Kentucky Department of Education are in the right place, and the certification requirements themselves come from EPSB.
Renewing a Professional Certificate takes one of two things. The first is 3 years of successful teaching experience during the period of the certificate, verified by your district. The second is at least 6 semester hours of credit, taken at a nationally or regionally accredited postsecondary institution. Most Kentucky teachers working full time meet the experience route without doing anything extra, which is why the honest answer for a lot of readers is that renewal costs them nothing but the application. Teachers who have not been in a classroom for 3 of the last 5 years, including those who worked part time, took leave, or moved into a role outside teaching, use the 6 semester hour route.
Early-career certificates follow a different pattern. The first renewals of a new certificate are tied to Kentucky’s fifth-year program and rank requirements rather than the standard rule, so a teacher in their first years should confirm their own requirements with EPSB and their district rather than assuming the 3-years-or-6-hours rule applies.
Rank is where graduate credit changes a Kentucky teacher’s pay. Ranks are set statewide rather than by individual districts, so a rank change moves your salary wherever in Kentucky you teach. Rank III is a bachelor’s degree and initial certification. Rank II is a master’s degree, or 32 semester hours of graduate coursework beyond the bachelor’s taken as a planned fifth-year program, or the Continuing Education Option. Rank I is Rank II plus one of four plans: 30 semester hours of approved graduate credit, 60 semester hours including a master’s degree, National Board Certification, or the Continuing Education Option.
The 30-hour plan for Rank I carries a limit worth knowing before you spend money anywhere. Kentucky requires that at least 15 of those 30 semester hours be taken at the college making the recommendation. Outside credit can cover no more than half of the plan, and whether any particular outside credit is accepted is decided by the recommending institution. Model Teaching cannot deliver a Rank I, and a teacher buying 30 credits from us in the hope of one would be spending roughly half of it on hours that will not count toward that plan. The route we can genuinely help with is the master’s degree that produces Rank II.
The Continuing Education Option is a real alternative to a degree for rank change, and it is not a product anyone can sell you off the shelf. CEO plans are delivered by school districts, educational cooperatives, and Kentucky institutions with EPSB-approved educator preparation programs, and individual proposals are approved by EPSB.
Kentucky teachers also search for certification renewal and recertification. EPSB issues certificates, the renewal unit is the semester hour, and rank is the statewide classification that sets your place on the salary schedule. The official requirements are published in 16 KAR 4:060, 16 KAR 8:010 and on the EPSB educator certification page.
How Kentucky’s rank system works, and what we can and cannot do
Kentucky sets teacher rank statewide rather than leaving pay lanes to each district, so a rank change moves your salary wherever you teach. There are three ranks, and this is where graduate credit is worth real money in Kentucky. It is also where we have to be clear about the limits of what our courses can do.
Where a teacher starts.
A master’s degree, or 32 semester hours of graduate coursework beyond the bachelor’s as a planned fifth-year program, or the Continuing Education Option.
30 semester hours of approved graduate credit, 60 semester hours including a master’s degree, National Board Certification, or the Continuing Education Option.
Source: 16 KAR 8:010, 16 KAR 8:020 and Go Teach KY, Continuing Education Option.
Our graduate-level semester credits can count toward a master’s degree, which is the cleanest route to Rank II. Nine of our credits apply to the Augustana M.Ed.
For Rank I under the 30-hour plan, Kentucky requires that at least 15 of those 30 semester hours be taken at the college making the recommendation. That means outside credit can cover no more than half, and whether ours is accepted is decided by the recommending institution, not by us. We cannot deliver a Rank I, and you should not buy 30 credits from us expecting one. Talk to the Kentucky institution that would make your recommendation before you enroll anywhere.
CEO plans are run by school districts, educational cooperatives, and Kentucky institutions with EPSB-approved educator preparation programs, and individual proposals are approved by EPSB. It is a real route to Rank II or Rank I, and it is not something our courses constitute.
Build your own Kentucky graduate credit bundle
Buy your credits once, then choose any courses until you have the semester hours you need.
6 semester hours of graduate credit. $199 up front, then $70 per credit as you finish.
- 6 semester hours renews a Professional Certificate on the coursework route
- Official transcript and letter grade from a regionally accredited university partner
- Credits count toward the master’s degree that produces Rank II
- Self-paced, 100% online, with 1 year of access
9 credits can be applied toward the Augustana M.Ed.
3 semester hours of graduate credit. $149 up front, then $70 per credit as you finish.
- Half of a coursework renewal, if you already have credits toward your 6
- Official transcript and letter grade for every credit you earn
- Choose any courses from the full course menu
- Credits also apply toward a master’s degree
Need a different size? See all credit bundles
Graduate credits and official transcripts are issued directly by our university partners
Move to Rank II with a master’s degree
Kentucky’s rank system is statewide, so moving from Rank III to Rank II raises your salary in any Kentucky district rather than only where you currently teach. The clean route to Rank II is a master’s degree. Our graduate credits count toward one, and 9 Model Teaching credits apply to the Augustana M.Ed., which keeps the cost of the degree well below what a campus program usually runs. Districts set the actual dollar amounts on top of the state schedule, so check your district’s schedule for what a rank change is worth where you teach.
Rank II is a real salary change
Kentucky sets ranks statewide, so a master’s degree moves your salary classification anywhere in Kentucky, not just in your current district.
Accredited transcripts
Every university-partnered course produces an official transcript and letter grade from a regionally accredited university partner, which is the documentation an institution needs to award credit toward a degree.
Credits toward the degree
9 Model Teaching credits apply to the Augustana M.Ed., so the coursework you take can carry into the degree rather than being spent twice.
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
$619 total for 6 credits.
- 6 semester hours, which is what Kentucky’s coursework renewal route requires
- Official transcript and letter grade from a regionally accredited university partner
- Credits also apply toward a master’s degree
Due now to access and take your courses.
Then $70 per credit as you go
$359 total for 3 credits.
- 3 semester hours, half of a coursework renewal
- Useful if you already have credits toward your 6
- Official transcript and letter grade on every course
Toward Rank II.
Applied to the Augustana M.Ed.
Then finish the degree with Augustana.
- 9 Model Teaching credits applied to the Augustana M.Ed.
- The route to a master’s degree, which produces Rank II
- Official transcript and letter grade on every course
We do not offer a bundle aimed at Rank I. Kentucky requires at least 15 of the 30 semester hours in that plan to be taken at the college making the recommendation, so outside credit can cover no more than half, and acceptance is that institution’s decision. Speak to them first.
Larger bundles are on the credit bundle page.
View bundled optionsFrequently asked questions
Common questions about Kentucky teacher certificate renewal, semester hours and the rank system.
Requirements How do Kentucky teachers renew a certificate?
On either 3 years of successful teaching experience during the period of the certificate, or at least 6 semester hours of credit from a nationally or regionally accredited institution. Most full-time teachers use the experience route and take no coursework.
Credits How many semester hours does a Kentucky renewal take?
6 semester hours, if you are using the coursework route. Teachers who taught 3 of the last 5 years renew on experience instead and need none.
Salary What are Rank I, Rank II and Rank III?
Kentucky’s statewide salary classifications. Rank III is a bachelor’s degree and initial certification. Rank II is a master’s degree, 32 semester hours as a planned fifth-year program, or the Continuing Education Option. Rank I is Rank II plus 30 semester hours of approved graduate credit, 60 hours including a master’s, National Board Certification, or the Continuing Education Option.
Salary Can Model Teaching courses get me to Rank I?
No. Kentucky requires at least 15 of the 30 semester hours in that plan to be taken at the college making the recommendation, so outside credit can cover no more than half, and acceptance is the recommending institution’s decision. We can help with credits toward the master’s degree that produces Rank II.
Process What is the Continuing Education Option?
An alternative route to Rank II or Rank I that does not require a degree. CEO plans are delivered by school districts, educational cooperatives, and Kentucky institutions with EPSB-approved educator preparation programs, and proposals are approved by EPSB. Model Teaching does not provide CEO plans.
Process Does Kentucky certification go through the Department of Education?
The Education Professional Standards Board sets Kentucky’s certification requirements, and it operates within the Kentucky Department of Education. If you started at the Department of Education you are in the right place.
Process Do my courses need approval before I take them?
For the renewal coursework route, Kentucky asks that credits come from a nationally or regionally accredited postsecondary institution, which our university partners are. For credit toward a degree or a rank plan, the institution awarding or recommending decides what it accepts, so ask them first.
Renewal What if I am in my first years of teaching?
Early-career certificates are tied to Kentucky’s fifth-year program and rank requirements rather than the standard renewal rule. Confirm your own requirements with EPSB and your district before planning coursework.
Salary Is a rank change worth more than a district lane change?
In Kentucky, rank is set statewide, so a rank change moves your salary classification in any Kentucky district. Districts set the dollar amounts on top of the state schedule, so check your district’s schedule for what it is worth where you teach.
Renewing, or moving up a rank?
If you have taught 3 of the last 5 years, renewal takes no coursework. If you need 6 semester hours, or you are building toward the master’s that produces Rank II, we can help with that.
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 EPSB and your district before you enroll.
