Teacher Licensing & Renewal
Turn your passion into a teaching career.
- Available as
- Licensure
- Degrees/Options
- License
- Length
- Locations
- Fort Wayne
Why Get Your Teaching License?
It’s not uncommon to become inspired to teach others at some point in your career:
- A successful entrepreneur wants to impart business wisdom to young adults
- A passionate park ranger wants to share a love of nature with children in a new way
- A skilled social worker wants to expand their ability to help others
If you have a passion for sharing knowledge with others, you can pursue a teaching career — no matter what your undergraduate degree is in. You’ll build off your prior academic and professional experiences with coursework and real-world training in education.
With a state teaching license in your chosen subject area, you can pursue full-time educator positions at public schools, as well as private and parochial institutions.
99%
Career success rate for Class of 2022 graduates from all of our education programs
$61,620
Median national annual salary for elementary school teachers
BLS.gov
498,400
Number of special education teaching jobs in the U.S.
BLS.gov
How it Works: Teacher Licensing at Saint Francis
The University of Saint Francis has a long-standing reputation for excellence in teacher preparation. In addition to our education-related bachelor’s and post-baccalaureate programs, we offer teacher licensure and renewal options for new and returning students.
New Teachers
An expert licensing advisor will help you determine which courses you’ll need, as well as an estimated completion time, based on your teaching goals and previous college coursework.
Existing Teachers
If you’re already working in the education field and want to pursue licensure in additional subjects or in special education, Saint Francis can help in a few ways:
- Coursework in specific disciplines can lead to licensure in additional content areas
- Our undergraduate special education program prepares you for mild intervention and elementary licensure
- Our online masters and transition-to-teaching programs can prepare you for licensure in a mild and/or intensive classroom in elementary, secondary, or all-grade settings
Online Transition to Teaching Programs
In addition to on-campus offerings, Saint Francis also offers online transition-to-teaching programs in:
- Elementary Education
- Secondary Education
- Special Education
Teaching License Renewal at Saint Francis
If you’re approaching license renewal time or wish to return to teaching after an extended break, Saint Francis can help you meet the requirements.
In Indiana, options for renewing your teaching license include taking six additional credits of college coursework. Learn more about teaching license renewal in Indiana.
“I’m confident that I’ll be prepared for a teaching career… the faculty are really involved. They know us and they care about us. They want us to succeed 100%.”
Olivia Taylor ’24 Elementary Education major
“Saint Francis has provided me with the opportunity to learn from veteran teachers each semester, placing me in ten K-12 schools in four different districts. Completing 300+ hours of field experience, I have gained invaluable knowledge making me feel both qualified and prepared to become an educator.”
Grace Newell ’25 Elementary Education major
“The Saint Francis Elementary Education program has helped me further my love for education and has provided me with so many resources both in and out of the classroom. My professors also provide lots of encouragement and are always available when I need help. ”
Gwendolyn Jakway ’26 Elementary Education major
Faculty and Facilities
As a student in our post-baccalaureate programs, including transition-to-teaching programs, you will have the same benefits as traditional education majors at Saint Francis. You’ll learn in small classes from expert educators, and you can build lesson plans and prepare for the student-teaching experience in the Antoinette V. Murray Cougar Classroom, a learning lab filled with technology, resources, and materials.
Education and Teaching Careers
Saint Francis-trained teachers make a difference in public, private, and religious schools of all sizes. Just a few places you might find them include:
- Bishop Noll Institute
- Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District
- DeKalb County Central United School District
- Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Schools
- East Allen County Schools
- Edgerton High School
- Fort Wayne Community Schools
- Indianapolis Public Schools
- Northeast Indiana Special Education Cooperative
- Northwest Allen County Schools
- Prairie Heights School Corporation
- Prince Chapman Academy
- Smith Academy for Excellence (SAFE) Boy’s School
- Southwest Allen County Schools
- Warsaw Community Schools
- West Noble School Corporation
- Westview School Corporation
Graduate School and Other Opportunities
Teachers are lifelong learners. Throughout your career, you’re likely to return to the classroom for continuing education credits, graduate certificates and additional licensure. Additionally, many educators pursue related graduate degrees; Saint Francis offers master’s programs in education, special education and school psychology.
How to get started
To learn more about Teacher Licensing and License Renewal (including to see if your previous coursework applies toward licensing), contact:
Mary Riepenhoff
mriepenhoff@sf.edu
260-399-7700 ext. 8409
The licensing advisor serves as a liaison between students and the Office of Educator Effectiveness and Licensing (OEEL), the Indiana Department of Education licensing agency.
Accreditation
The Department of Education is accredited by the Indiana Department of Education and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), which was previously known as the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).