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Certification Requirements
All credentials for graduation and applications for teaching certification, including transcripts of credit from other institutions, must be filed on or before the last day of the semester or session in which a student expects to graduate, otherwise certification and graduation will be postponed to the next graduating date. The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires teacher education majors to have a 3.000 GPA in each certificate area in which the candidate plans to teach. Teacher certification candidates must be pronounced medically fit by a licensed physician qualified to practice medicine in Pennsylvania, prior to applying for certification. Only a citizen of the United States is eligible to receive a teaching certificate. Issuance of a teaching certificate or license is the responsibility of each state’s Department of Education. Meeting requirements for licensure is the sole responsibility of each student. Currently, the PDE requirements that must be met prior to issuance of a teaching license include:
1. Recommendation from an accredited College.
2. Application for certification
3. Passing scores (which are set by the PDE) on all required Praxis exams
4. Recommendation by the department of the student’s major. (Department recommendation may be contingent upon completion of additional and/or more rigorous requirements than the minimum described above.)
Candidates eligible for certification will receive their teaching certificate as soon as possible after it has been released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Candidates that will seek certification in states other than Pennsylvania will be responsible for determining the certification/licensure requirements for that state. They should make note of any specific requirements of coursework, tests, degrees and similar requirements for certification in that state. The candidate must be aware that the Department of Education or its counterpart in each state is responsible for certification, not Lock Haven University.
Requirements and regulations regarding certification for Pennsylvania and other states can, and do, change from time to time. It is the responsibility of the candidate to track the requirements and document their progress as part of their application for advanced standing.
**Note: Students transferring to Lock Haven University will need to complete and/or meet the same criteria for Teacher Education. Proof of the teacher education entrance requirements may be required if attained at a university other than LHU.