ASU programs that may lead to professional licensure or certification are intended to prepare students for potential licensure or certification in Arizona. Completion of an ASU program may not meet educational requirements for licensure or certification in another state. We recommend that you prepare prior to your final semester of your program so there is no delay in receiving your teaching credential.

Arizona Department of Education (ADE)

The official credentialing body for the state of Arizona. The Arizona Department of Education outlines the requirements needed for certification on their website. ASU falls under "option A' and our teacher preparation is one part of the certification process. Be aware that there are additional tasks that are not apart of our teacher preparation program that students need to complete on their own for certification. We put together the Arizona Teacher Certification Checklist to help students navigate all the requirements, or students can check out the ADE's official website. 

Deficiencies Required by ADE

• The US/AZ Constitution Requirements are considered an "allowable deficiency" meaning for some that it may not need to be completed by the time you apply for your credential. The other posted deficienies by the ADE are built into your teacher preparation program. 

NES/AEPA Tests Required by ADE

• The AEPA Exam(s) exams are an ADE requirement outside of the teacher preparation program ASU offers. Students are recommended to independently schedule and complete these exams throughout their duration of the program. These tests must be passed in order to obtain teacher certification from the ADE upon program completion. Students typically complete these tests before Student Teaching. Please visit the AEPA site to register for the tests and for additional information: www.aepa.nesinc.com.

• The following National Evaluation Series (NES) tests are needed for Elementary certification:

• • • • NES Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Elementary (051)

      • Optional: NES Elementary Education Subtests I and II (102 and 103) 

        • • Note: For Arizona certification purposes, the elementary subtests can be waived using your Masters of Elementary Education degree. However, we still recommend completing these subtests as most other states require them or its equivalent. 

Out of State

Our programs lead to Arizona certification, however, we do support out of state students too. There are common ways our students approach certification when they are out of state. They generally plan to earn the AZ teaching license to then transfer their credential to their state that they plan to teach in through reciprocity. Or, since not all states will accept the AZ teaching license, they may plan not to earn the AZ teaching license, but instead still complete our ASU teacher preparation program, and then work with their state’s credentialing body on obtaining the rest of the requirements separately. 

If you are planning to apply for certification in other states, either via reciprocity or directly through another state, please take time to review the ASU professional licensure webpage. Also, visit the website for your state’s credentialing body for further information and contact them directly for any clarification on what they will accept since each state is different.

ASU's MLFC Compliance office (MLFCCompliance@asu.edu) is available to help our out of state students navigate the certification requirements.