Teaching License from Utah 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 Utah 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 Utah 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.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
The honest version of Utah to Pennsylvania: your Utah 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 Utah license waives Pennsylvania's requirements — plan them into your first year.
What changes, Utah → Pennsylvania
| Utah (current) | Pennsylvania (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | USBE publishes no educator license application fee on its Licensing home, Apply (LER), or Background Check pages - applications are filed through the SM Apply portal and no amount and no explicit no-fee statement appears on any page reviewed. The BCI/FBI fingerprint-based background-check cost and, for international applicants, credential-evaluation fees are separate and also unpublished. Left null rather than asserted as $0, because no USBE page reviewed on 2026-08-07 says licensure applications are free | 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 time | USBE publishes no LER processing range. For the mandatory background check, mailed fingerprint cards take 'up to 25 business days to process' after USBE receives them, plus up to three weeks in transit; LiveScan in Utah has no published timeframe. LER questions go to [email protected] | NOT VERIFIED — PDE publishes no processing timeframe for out-of-state certification applications on the reviewed page |
| Licensing authority | Utah State Board of Education (USBE) - Educator Licensing | Pennsylvania 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
- Confirm Pennsylvania's current requirements on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) — Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Complete and submit the application through TIMS (Teacher Information Management System).
- Send official transcripts for the bachelor's degree and all subsequent study.
- Have required content-area test scores reported to PDE directly by the testing provider.
- Submit a photocopy of the valid out-of-state certificate.
- 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.
- Be a U.S. citizen or otherwise legally authorized to work in the United States.
- 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
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Pennsylvania accept a Utah teaching license?
A teaching certificate transfers from Utah 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 Utah 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 Utah 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 Utah 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 Utah-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.
- Pennsylvania Department of Education — Out-of-State Educators (TIMS application, transcripts, test-score reporting, PDE338V/PDE338A forms, citizenship requirement) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-08)
- Utah USBE - Apply for an Educator License (License Equivalency Review via SM Apply; Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact eligibility; 'Utah testing rules do not apply' to out-of-state program completers; USIMS background check with fingerprinting; international credential evaluation) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Utah USBE - Educator Tests (Utah required exams apply to Utah EPP candidates; UFORA; Praxis 5412/6990, 5422, 5403; Out-of-State Testing Equivalency; PPA eliminated effective June 10, 2024) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Utah USBE - Background Checks (BCI criminal background check required of all Utah educators; mailed prints up to 25 business days plus transit) ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Utah USBE - Educator Licensing home ('Transfer your out-of-state or international license to Utah') ↗ (accessed 2026-08-07)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-08-08
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]