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Educator Certification
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Certificate Types and Requirements

Florida offers two types of Educator Certificates: the Temporary Certificate and the Professional Certificate.

The Professional Certificate
The Temporary Certificate

Valid for five school years
Valid for five school years

Renewable
Nonrenewable

Florida's highest Educator Certificate
Provides time to complete all requirements for a Professional Certificate while teaching full-time

Requirements:
Requirements:

Complete all application process requirements
Complete all application process requirements

Hold at least a bachelor's degree
Hold at least a bachelor's degree

Demonstrate Mastery of Subject Area Knowledge for a requested subject
Demonstrate Mastery of Subject Area Knowledge or meet Subject Specialization with a 2.5 GPA for a requested subject

The Florida Temporary Certificate is issued after the individual is employed in a Florida school and his/her fingerprints have been cleared.


The Florida Professional Certificate is issued after the individual's results of his/her fingerprint-based background screening have been cleared. The individual seeking employment in Florida will be assisted in completing the fingerprint process by his/her employer. A U.S. citizen who is not seeking employment in Florida or has an immediate need for issuance of the Professional Certificate should review Step 4: Submitting Fingerprints for Certification and the available fingerprint processing instructions or may contact the Bureau of Educator Certification for assistance.

Please note: If a U.S. citizen chooses to have his/her fingerprints processed prior to Florida employment for issuance of the Professional Certificate, it may be necessary to have the fingerprints reprocessed, and the individual may have to pay a second processing fee as a condition of employment in a Florida public school.

Click on the links above for a list of options to complete these requirements