Licensure in NC

Licensure Procedure
North Carolina teaching licenses are issued by the Department of Public Instruction based on the policies and procedures adopted by the State Board of Education. An alternate route to teaching in NC allows you to obtain a position and begin teaching right away, without any prior teacher training or experience. This route is known as "Lateral Entry." The following are the qualifications for lateral entry per NC Regional Alternative Licensing Center (RALC):

Qualifications for Lateral Entry
All lateral entry and prospective lateral entry teachers must have a bachelors degree from a regionally accredited college or university and have:

• A major that is relevant to the teaching area OR
• 24 semester hours of course work in core area OR
• Passed PRAXIS II if you are a teacher of Elementary, Exceptional Children (if teacher of record), B-K if teaching K, and ESL (if teacher of record) must have passed PRAXIS II before you can obtain lateral entry status

Plus one of the following:

• A cumulative 2.5 GPA OR
• Five years of relevant experience that occurred after the bachelor's degree ( as determined by the LEA in collaboration with the licensure section of DPI; not the NC RALC) OR
• Pass PRAXIS I test with one of the following:

  >	GPA of 3.0 for all coursework in the senior year OR
  >	GPA of 3.0 in the major OR
  >	GPA of 3.0 on a minimum of 15 semester hours of coursework after the bachelor's degree, related to the teaching area/licensure area completed in the most recent five years

Once hired, you MUST:

• Complete a minimum of six semester hours of coursework from your plan of study during each year of employment on a lateral-entry license (maximum of three years to complete all coursework)
• Attain a passing score on the appropriate Praxis II subject exam(s) during the first three school years of holding the lateral entry license if
  the exam(s) was/were not the basis of qualifying for the license

Additional information and resources regarding alternative routes to teaching in North Carolina can be found at: