Licensing for Teaching Students

Add a content area to your existing license

Some areas may be added by testing alone.  By passing the state mandated content area test, you can apply to the state to have the new area added to your license.  

Other areas require both coursework and state mandated testing to become eligible for the additional content area. Ball State offers online post baccalaureate license add-on programs for the following instructional areas:

• Special Education: Mild Interventions (K-12)
• Special Education: Intense Interventions (P-12
• Special Education: Deaf and Hard of Hearing (P-12)
• Special Education: Early Childhood (Mild) (P-3)
• Mild Interventions Expansion from K-6 to K-12
• Early Childhood Education (P-3)
• Early Childhood Expansion (to add grades 4-6 to an Early Childhood P-3 license)
• English as a New Language (P-12)
• High Ability (P-12)
• Virtual and Distance Education Teaching (P-12)
• Teacher of Reading 
• Journalism 

To move from teaching secondary or all grade content areas to elementary requires a Transition to Teaching program.  Similarly, to add a Fine Arts area requires additional coursework.  Please fill out the license information form to be contacted about how you can add an area to your license.  

Online administrative licensure programs: 

• Building Level Administrator (P-12)
• Director of Exceptional Needs (P-12)
• Director of Career and Technical Education (P-12)
• Director of Curriculum and Instruction (P-12)
• School Superintendent (P-12)

To enroll in a license add-on program, an evaluation of your credentials and transcripts is generally required.  The evaluation allows for verification of program eligibility as well as determination of any prior coursework that may be applicable to the new licensing program.  Simply complete the license evaluation form to request the evaluation.

 Renew an existing instructional or administrative license

Existing licenses can be renewed by coursework or Professional Growth Points (PGPs).  A total of 6 credit hours of coursework from an accredited institution or 90 PGPs must be accumulated since the time of the last issue date of your license.  A combination of coursework and PGPs is also acceptable.  Every credit hour equates to 15 PGPs.  

Coursework should be connected to your licensure area or education.  There are not specified courses which must be taken. The IDOE will accept coursework taken at either the graduate or undergraduate level.  

Ready to Apply?

If you already have an undergraduate degree and are applying to the university to pursue license renewals, license additions, or new licensing programs, you should apply for admission to Ball State’s Graduate School.

You must apply to the Graduate School before you can register for classes. Information about online and off-campus course offerings are coordinated through the Division of Online and Distance Education. 

Start Your Application

When you are near the end of your program, you will need to apply for the license itself.

The process will be different depending on whether you apply to for a license in Indiana or another state.

Alternative Graduate Level Pathways to Licensure

Transition to Teaching Pathway

Transition to Teaching (T2T) programs are designed to allow someone with a bachelor’s degree in a field outside of education to become a licensed teacher in the state of Indiana.  Each accredited education institution is required to offer or be in collaboration with other institutions to offer a Transition to Teaching program.  Ball State offers an elementary and a secondary option.  For both programs eligible candidates must hold at least a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and meet a minimum 2.75 GPA requirement.

The elementary Transition to Teaching program consists of 24 credit hours of online coursework and the required state mandated testing. Two content area tests and one grade level appropriate pedagogy are required.  Successful completion of all coursework and testing results in eligibility for a general education K-6 license. 

The secondary Transition to Teaching program is designed for licensure at the secondary level (middle school and/or high school) and is based on the premise that the candidate already has content knowledge in the area of the intended license.  Candidates for this pathway must hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution in the content area of the intended license or hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and pass the state mandated content area test prior to entering the program (for test only eligible content areas only).  One content area test and a grade level appropriate pedagogy test are required.  The program consists of 18 credit hours of online coursework and the required state mandated testing.  Successful completion of all coursework and testing results in eligibility for a general education secondary (grades 5-12) license in the content area determined through the program eligibility criteria.

Transition to Teaching Permits – To be eligible for a Transition to Teaching permit, you must be enrolled in an Indiana college/university T2T program and hired by an Indiana School Corporation.  You will apply directly with the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) for the T2T permit.  Once you have completed the application, LVIS (the State licensing portal), will route the application to the school corporation for approval.  Transition to Teaching permits are valid for three years. 

• Step-by-Step Instructions

Alternative Special Education License

 Beginning July 1, 2022, the Alternative Special Education License for initial Special Education licensure or for a Special Education addition to an existing license became available through the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree and be enrolled in a post-baccalaureate state approved preparation program for initial Special Education licensure or for a Special Education addition to an existing license.  Applicants for this license must be employed in Indiana as a classroom teacher in the Special Education area of the preparation program.  This license is also available to applicants who hold a bachelor’s degree and have completed an approved Special Education licensure program but require additional time to pass the required state licensure test(s).

An application for the Alternative Special Education license must be submitted through the applicant’s online LVIS account.  The new Alternative Special Education License is valid for three years and is non-renewable.  Holders of this alternative license are eligible to serve as the Teacher of Record (TOR) in the area displayed on the license.  

• Step-by-Step Instructions

Advanced Degree Pathway

 The Indiana Department of Education offers a licensing option to individuals who have an advanced degree.  By statute, instructional licenses issued under the advanced degree option are available only at the secondary (middle school and high school) grade levels.  Applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a license using the advanced degree option:

• Hold a master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited postsecondary educational institution in the subject content area in which the applicant seeks to be licensed.
• Verify at least one (1) academic year of experience teaching students in a middle school, high school, or college classroom setting (substitute teaching experience will not count).
• Successfully complete the content area testing corresponding to the major of the advanced degree and the secondary pedagogy test (Indiana Praxis, Principles of Learning and Teaching test #5624).  Please see the Educator Testing page for more information. 
• Hold a valid CPR certification from an IDOE approved provider.  
• Complete Suicide Prevention Training.
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) content areas (Agriculture, Business and Information Technology, Family and Consumer Sciences, Health Science, Marketing, and Trade and Industrial Areas) also require documentation of at least 4,000 clock hours of related non-teaching industry work experience.  

To apply for the Advanced Degree option, apply directly with the Indiana Department of Education through the LVIS portal.

• Step-by-Step Instructions

Emergency Permit

 An Emergency Permit (EP) is issued at the request of a school district in a content area for which the district is having difficulty staffing the assignment with a properly licensed educator.  The applicant must possess a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution to be eligible for an EP.  The individual holding the EP must make a commitment to work toward completion of an approved program to either add the content area of the EP to an existing license or to obtain an Initial Practitioner license for the content area.  The permit holder must meet with a licensing advisor at an Indiana institution to learn about the requirements for completing the appropriate program.

The EP is valid for one school year.  Once issued, it may be requested to be renewed by the school if the applicant completes the renewal requirements.  A school employer may approve an application for the renewal of an EP annually if the EP holder can meet the renewal requirements by providing proof of continuing progress toward achieving full licensure in the content area on the permit.  Failure to meet renewal requirements may result in denial of the renewal application. 

• Step-by-Step Instructions

ALL initial licensure and license renewals require a valid CPR Certification and Suicide Prevention training.  Please visit the IDOE website for more information using the links below.

• CPR and AED Certification
• Suicide Prevention Training
• Licensing Fee information

HAVE QUESTIONS?

General licensure questions and inquiries can be sent to OTES@bsu.edu
or call us at 765-285-1168

New tests, test numbers, and passing scores will take affect beginning on September 1, 2023 for selected content areas.  The content areas affected are: Mild Interventions, Intense Interventions, Chemistry, Earth/Space Science, Biology (Life Science), School Counseling, and Physics.  Please check with the Office of Teacher Education Services and Clinical Practice for confirmation of any testing requirements.