Skip to content
LicenseReciprocity

Teaching License from Texas to Pennsylvania: Does It Transfer? (2026)

Last verified: 2026-08-08 · source: Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality ↗

A teaching certificate transfers from Texas to Pennsylvania by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality, verify your Texas license, and meet Pennsylvania's endorsement requirements. Pennsylvania requires its own content test(s) (Praxis / PECT) as posted in PDE's Certification Test and Score Requirements; out-of-state tests are accepted only when the test provider, test name, and test code match Pennsylvania's list, and no substitutions are permitted. Applicants with two or more years of satisfactory out-of-state teaching experience may instead document that experience on Form PDE338V.

Verify this exact pair in the checker

Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.

Run the Reciprocity Checker →

Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

The honest version of Texas to Pennsylvania: your Texas teaching license gets you in the door, not into the classroom on its own terms. Pennsylvania will review your credential, issue a provisional certificate so you can begin teaching, and then require its own tests and coursework within its completion window before the full license. Nothing about holding an Texas license waives Pennsylvania's requirements — plan them into your first year.

What changes, Texas → Pennsylvania

Side-by-side: Texas vs Pennsylvania (Teaching (K-12)), verified 2026-08-08
Texas (current)Pennsylvania (destination)
Application fee$160–$164 (19 TAC Sec. 230.101 (SBEC rules currently in effect) sets the nonrefundable fee for 'Review of a credential issued by a jurisdiction other than Texas' at $160, the standard certificate at $75, and the 'One-year certificate based on a credential issued by a jurisdiction other than Texas' at $50. TEA's out-of-state application materials state $164 is collected for the credentials review; the $4 difference is not explained on any TEA page reviewed, so the range is reported rather than a single figure. The national criminal history check fee (a $10 criminal history review fee plus the current DPS/FBI fingerprint scanning and processing cost) and TExES exam fees are additional)NOT VERIFIED — PDE's out-of-state educators page references application fees but publishes no amount, and the linked PDE application-fees page returned HTTP 404 on 2026-08-08. Fees are assessed inside TIMS at submission. No figure is asserted rather than publishing an unverified number.
Processing time6–8 weeks (TEA: 'Applicants should allow 6 to 8 weeks for processing.' Reviews and test-exemption determinations run longer in the busy season, which TEA pages describe variously as March-October and April-September. TEA's out-of-state certification page reported 531 applications awaiting review as of August 5, 2026 with four specialists assigned)NOT VERIFIED — PDE publishes no processing timeframe for out-of-state certification applications on the reviewed page
Licensing authorityTexas Education Agency (TEA) - Educator CertificationPennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Pennsylvania sets the rules for this move.

Step by step

  1. Confirm Pennsylvania's current requirements on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality website (linked below) — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality (application linked below).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
  4. Complete and submit the application through TIMS (Teacher Information Management System).
  5. Send official transcripts for the bachelor's degree and all subsequent study.
  6. Have required content-area test scores reported to PDE directly by the testing provider.
  7. Submit a photocopy of the valid out-of-state certificate.
  8. Submit the Verification of Experience Form (PDE338V) with two or more years of experience, or the Educator Preparation Program Verification Form (PDE338A) where an approved program was completed.
  9. Be a U.S. citizen or otherwise legally authorized to work in the United States.
  10. Pay the fees (NOT VERIFIED — PDE's out-of-state educators page references application fees but publishes no amount, and the linked PDE application-fees page returned HTTP 404 on 2026-08-08. Fees are assessed inside TIMS at submission. No figure is asserted rather than publishing an unverified number.) and allow NOT VERIFIED — PDE publishes no processing timeframe for out-of-state certification applications on the reviewed page.

Official links

Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality ↗Pennsylvania application ↗

Related guides

Reverse: Pennsylvania → TexasTeaching in TexasTeaching in PennsylvaniaAll teaching states

Frequently asked questions

Does Pennsylvania accept a Texas teaching license?

A teaching certificate transfers from Texas to Pennsylvania by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality, verify your Texas license, and meet Pennsylvania's endorsement requirements. Pennsylvania requires its own content test(s) (Praxis / PECT) as posted in PDE's Certification Test and Score Requirements; out-of-state tests are accepted only when the test provider, test name, and test code match Pennsylvania's list, and no substitutions are permitted. Applicants with two or more years of satisfactory out-of-state teaching experience may instead document that experience on Form PDE338V.

Will I have to retake tests moving from Texas to Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania requires its own content test(s) (Praxis / PECT) as posted in PDE's Certification Test and Score Requirements; out-of-state tests are accepted only when the test provider, test name, and test code match Pennsylvania's list, and no substitutions are permitted. Applicants with two or more years of satisfactory out-of-state teaching experience may instead document that experience on Form PDE338V. Holding a Texas license does not by itself waive Pennsylvania's tests — experience or National Board certification is what typically does.

Can I teach in Pennsylvania right away?

Generally yes on a provisional or one-year Pennsylvania certificate issued while you complete its requirements; districts hire on that credential.

What does the Texas-to-Pennsylvania transfer cost and how long does it take?

NOT VERIFIED — PDE's out-of-state educators page references application fees but publishes no amount, and the linked PDE application-fees page returned HTTP 404 on 2026-08-08. Fees are assessed inside TIMS at submission. No figure is asserted rather than publishing an unverified number.; processing NOT VERIFIED — PDE publishes no processing timeframe for out-of-state certification applications on the reviewed page.

Sources

Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-08-08.

Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-08-08

How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]