Teacher Certification - Frequently Asked Questions

The New York State Education Department has created an online system called TEACH where you must establish an account to apply and pay for your certificates, enter education and teaching experience, and maintain other critical certification information.

See the instructions to Create a TEACH account here. If you need assistance, contact the Office of Student Services in E262/264 Thompson Hall or call at 716-673-4768.

You will receive a Student Application Information Sheet when you attend the Professional Development Seminar at the start of your student teaching semester. Click here for a master list.

Many states have different levels of reciprocity with New York state. You can start searching for these requirements here.

Yes, it is best if you do. However, it is not recommended that you apply for certification any earlier than your final semester. You will get specific directions when you attend the Professional Development Seminar, at the start of your student teaching semester.

You will need to apply for each certification through your TEACH Account. The application for each certificate is $50 when applying as the result of completing an approved Fredonia teacher preparation program.

Not any more.

While some program completers wait a bit before applying for their certificate(s), based on a number of personal reasons, great caution should be taken should you decide to do so. Regular changes to NY State certification requirements can have a significant impact on a candidate's certification eligibility should the candidate not be certified prior to the implementation of a change.

In some instances candidates have been required to complete new exams, new coursework, and even entire programs in order to earn the certificate(s) for which they were once eligible but failed to earn as a result of delaying their certification application.

Extreme caution should therefore be exercised when making the decision to delay applying for a certificate.

The Office of Student Services provides updated information on pending certification changes. There is no guarantee that the changes identified on these pages are inclusive of all possible changes proposed by NY State at any given time.

1. Log in to your TEACH Account. 

2. Go to your TEACH Home page. 

3. Select "Account Information" then select "Certificates" from the scrolling menu and click "GO". 

   Displayed information includes all of your certificate applications and all issued certificates.

You should see if you are qualified to apply for a time extension by visiting the New York State Office of Teaching Initiatives page related to extensions. Typically, New York State will not process a time extension application unless it is within 6 months of the certificate's expiration date.

In order to satisfy the Master's degree requirement for professional certification, you must have been awarded a Master's from a regionally accredited institution of higher education or from an institution authorized by the Regents to confer degrees. Click here to see the four possible routes and a quick reference chart.

NYSTCE has practice exams (ranging between $11-$14) that offer sample multiple choice and constructed-response questions and shows you a model of the design and duration of the test. 

The NYSTCE website also has test frameworks and tutorials of the testing centers. They also offer a program called Right Start which has test based questions and modules.

Yes, but you must follow the Retake Policy as listed on the NYSTCE website. Some tests have a 30-day time period for retaking and others have a 60-day waiting period. 

EAS: $80 

Multi-Subject Content Specialty Test: 

• Part One: $59 
• Part Two: $59 
• Part Three: $43 
• Total if all three parts are taken together at one administration: $161 

For those with single subject adolescent programs, students with disabilities, and music: $122