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Acceptable Degrees and Credits
s.1012.56(2)(c), F.S., and Chapter 6A-4.003, F.A.C.
Acceptable Degrees and Credits
To apply for a Florida Educator’s Certificate, an applicant must hold at least a bachelor’s degree from a U.S.
“accredited or approved” institution, or an equivalent degree from a foreign institution. An individual who does not
meet this requirement at the time their application is received will have their application cancelled and fees refunded.
Degrees, programs, and credits shall be determined to be acceptable for educator certification purposes based on
the following:
1. Accredited Institutions: The institution must be accredited by an association or agency in (a) or (b).
a) Regional Accrediting Associations:
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Website: http://www.sacscoc.org/ (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA)
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Website: http://www.msche.org/ (DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, PR, USVI)
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Website: http://www.neasc.org/ (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Website: http://www.ncacihe.org/
(AZ, AK, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, WV, WI, WY)
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Website: http://www.nwccu.org (AK, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Website: http://www.wascsenior.org/
(CA, HI, American Samoa, Guam, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas)
b) Accrediting agencies approved by the United States Department of Education
Notes:
1. Current accreditation information for postsecondary institutions is available online at
https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home. This site lists an institution’s US Department of Education recognized
accreditations, if any. To access accreditation information from this site, type the name of the institution (and
any other optional criteria desired to narrow the search); click “search” or use the enter key; and then click
on the name of the institution. Another online accreditation source is http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/.
2. For a bachelor’s degree to be considered acceptable based upon the website referenced in Note #1 above,
the institution must be listed as granting a bachelor’s or higher degree and must list at least one
accreditation association. If no accreditation information is listed, the institution must meet one of the options
in the following Approved Institutions section for the degree to be considered acceptable.
3. For isolated credits (i.e., credits that do not culminate in a bachelor’s or higher degree) to be considered as
acceptable based upon the website referenced in Note #1 above, the institution must list at least one
association on the “accreditation” line. If no accreditation information is listed, the institution must meet one
of the options in the following Approved Institutions section for the credits to be considered acceptable.
4. Credits earned at accredited junior or community colleges that do not award bachelor’s degrees may be
used for certification purposes, if the courses parallel those offered during the first and second years at a
Florida public senior institution and are comparable to courses offered at Florida DOE approved community
and junior colleges that do not award bachelor’s degrees.
5. For institutions previously but no longer accredited, information from the accrediting association verifying the
dates the institution was fully accredited should accompany the application. Degrees and credits earned
during those years are acceptable.
2. Approved Institutions:
a) An institution not listed on the website (see Note #1 above) is acceptable if it has been approved for
certification purposes by the state department of education where the institution is located. Letters regarding
these institutions will be kept on file in the BEC. For example, in the past, degrees and credits from Bob