Attaining a Minnesota Teaching License is a requirement for teaching in Minnesota public schools. The Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, PELSB, is the state agency that oversees teacher licensing. Minnesota offers a variety of licenses for practicing teachers, new teachers, and those with experience teaching outside of Minnesota.  This article identifies essential resources for your initial or renewal application.

A great visual to start with is this Tiered licensure Infographic created by Education Minnesota, the union representing over 70,000 PreK-12 teachers and school support professionals in Minnesota.

Current educators review their credentials using the Minnesota teaching license lookup directly on the PELSB website.

Jump to: how to become a substitute teacher or MN licensing for out-of-state candidates.

 

Achieving Minnesota Teacher Certification

Minnesota offers a four-level educator licensure system, depending on factors like education, experience, test scores, and evaluation. Most educators in Minnesota need at least a bachelor’s degree. Tier 1 and 2 licenses tie to the hiring district or charter school, but Tier 3 and 4 licenses are portable, giving you more flexibility in employment.   

Tier 1 licenses are for niche classes and hard-to-fill positions. The license is good for only one year and requires a job offer. I.e., you first apply and get a job offer, then apply for the license with the support of the hiring school. A bachelor’s degree typically required with a Tier 1 license, but not always. The exceptions to the bachelor’s degree requirement for a Tier 1 license are for career and technical educators, native speakers of world languages, dance, theatre, visual arts, and music teachers may all receive a Tier 1 license to teach in Minnesota.

Tier 2 licenses are available to those that would qualify for a Tier 1 license, or have a bachelor’s degree. The license is good for two years and, like Tier 1, requires a job offer.

Most new teachers start at Tier 3 after completing an approved teacher preparation program. Tier 3 licenses are good for three years and can be renewed indefinitely.

Tier 4 can be attained with classroom experience and need to be renewed every five years.

The licensing process with PELSB takes about two to five weeks on average.

 

Other scenarios:

Short Call Substitute License

To work as a substitute teacher in Minnesota, you must first obtain a substitute teaching license from PELSB, a “short call” license. This license allows for teaching on a day-to-day basis, at most 20 consecutive days, replacing the same teacher. The license is valid for functioning as a short-call substitute teacher at all grade levels in all teaching fields.

NOTE: You often see postings for “long-term substitute” teaching positions. These positions are for more than 20 consecutive days and require a full Minnesota teaching license or permission valid for the assignment.

To attain a short call license, you must meet at least one of the following criteria: 

1. Hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, as verified by a college transcript.
2. Hold a credential outside the United States equivalent to a bachelor’s degree.
   • Applicants in career and technical education fields have either five years of relevant work experience aligned with the assignment, or an associate’s degree aligned with the assignment, or a professional certification aligned to the assignment.
3. Be enrolled, make meaningful progress in a PELSB-approved teacher preparation program, and successfully complete student teaching.

 

 

Out-of-State Teachers

If you’ve been teaching in another state or have completed your teacher preparation outside of Minnesota, you will likely qualify for a Minnesota teacher license under the tiered licensure structure.  

Most out-of-state candidates apply for either a Tier 2 or Tier 3 license. Get started at PELSB’s Apply for a License webpage.