services we provide in the Office of Credentials:

Assist with CTC Certificate of Clearance process - If you are having difficulty completing the COC application and process, our office can answer any questions you might have.  Additionally, if there are issues with your fingerprints noted on the CTC website, our office can act as a liaison for you with the CTC to help you resolve the issue.  Lastly, if it has taken longer than 2 weeks for your COC to be granted, once again, we can serve as a liaison with CTC and help to discover what is causing the delay and how to resolve the issue. 

Review Admission files for CTC and School of Education requirements - The Office of Credentials is the first stop for all School of Education admission files.  All application materials are reviewed for accuracy and to ensure the admission requirements are met.  CTC documents and exams are verified at this time.  Once complete, files are sent to the academic department for admission decisions.  If there are discrepancies in the file, program representatives will be asked to contact the prospective student to resolve the issues.  

Certify program required exams (e.g. CBEST, CSET, RICA) - Our office receives and processes the electronic score reports for most of the required exams.  It is very important that you choose to have your scores reported to APU, ensuring we receive your scores in a timely manner and in some cases, eliminating the need for a hard copy of score reports later in the credentialing process.

Verify or provide Subject Matter Waiver Letters - If you are an APU undergraduate and you have completed a CTC-approved Subject Matter Waiver Program in the area of Mathematics, English, Social Science, Music, or Kinesiology, you should contact our office to begin the process of requesting a subject matter evaluation from your program, which will give our analysts the information needed to write a Subject Matter Waiver letter. This letter makes it possible for you to waive taking the CSET exams for clinical practice clearance and credential recommendation.   This process can take a month or more. 

If you were an undergraduate student at another California institution and you received your BA by the completion of a CTC-approved Subject Matter Waiver program, you need to request a letter from the credential office at that institution. Letters can only be written by a credential analyst.  Once you receive this letter, you can send it to your APU credential analyst and she can verify the letter, making it possible for you to waive the CSET exams to meet the subject matter requirement for clinical practice clearance and credential recommendation.  This usually takes some time to complete, so make your request at the earliest possible date if applicable. 

Verify US Constitution requirements - Credential Analysts will use your community college transcripts or undergrad transcripts to determine if you have met the U.S. Constitution requirement.  If not, you can take an exam to meet the requirement.  For more information, visit the Resource Page.

Complete Out-of-State Verification Forms - When an APU teacher candidate has completed our teacher preparation program, becomes credentialed, and then moves out of the state of California, Credential Analysts should be contacted to complete the new state's Licensure Verification Forms. This way, that candidate can acquire teaching credentials in their new state of residence.

Provide Information to new residents of CA - If a teacher candidate completed a professional teacher preparation program including supervised student teaching and they were eligible for certification in another state or country, we are happy to explain the Out-of-State application process to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).

Advisement - Beginning Fall 2017, Credential Analysts also serve as academic advisor for candidates who will be seeking a teaching credential in General Education or Special Education. Contact your Program Coordinator to set up an advisement appointment.  Your Credential Analyst will review the Academic Plan for your chosen program and can answer any questions you might have.

Status Letters - Sometimes a district would like to know how a candidate is progressing with respect to program completion. Credential Analysts can provide a status letter for candidates so they can provide this information to a school district in a timely manner.  These letters can be requested at any time from your Credential Analyst and can take 2 - 6 weeks to be completed.

Verify Intern Eligibility and Provide Intern Eligibility Letters - If you would like to complete your clinical experience in a paid position, it may be possible to do this as an Intern.   It is important for you to start the process in the Office of Credentials.  Credential Analysts will review your completed coursework and additional requirements to determine if you are eligible to become an intern.  If you meet intern eligibility, your Credential Analyst will provide you with a letter that explains to a district that you do meet the requirements to be recommended for an Intern Credential. 

Verify MOU Agreements for Intern Teaching purposes - Candidates must do clinical practice or become an intern in a district or charter school where we currently have an executed Memo Of  Understanding (MOU) in place.  Our office is the place where the MOU agreements are initiated and maintained.  Contact your credential analyst if you don't see your district of choice on the list.   We can also request an MOU from a district if we do not currently have an agreement in place, however, we cannot guarantee the agreement will be approved.

Assist with Added Authorizations, Supplementary and Subject Matter Authorizations - When a candidate has completed a teacher preparation program and received their credential, sometimes there is a desire to add additional authorizations that will enlarge the possibilities of what settings and subjects the teacher can teach in.   Credential Analysts can help answer questions, give direction on next steps, verify met requirements, and eventually make a recommendation for additional authorizations to be added to the original teaching credential.  

Verify final Credential Program Completion for recommendation of credentials to the CTC - Once a credential application has been sent to our office, the Credential Analyst asks the division or department to complete the program sign off process.  Concurrently, the Credential Analyst will verify that the student has met all additional requirements (i.e. CPR, RICA, U.S. Constitution).  Once all of these items have been verified and the program sign off is complete, the Credential Analyst can then move forward with the recommendation process to the CTC for the appropriate credential.  This process can take between 2 - 6 weeks to complete. 

Provide on-going assistance after completion of the program - Our Credential Analysts are here to help current and previous APU students for the duration of their teaching career.   If questions arise about credentials, the CTC renewal process, out of state needs, or any other credential related concerns, please feel free to call the Office of Credentials.  Our knowledgeable Credential Analysts are always happy to help.