Office of Educator Licensure

New ELAR to launch on May 2nd

April 12th 2024 Announcement

The Department is pleased to announce the launch of a new Educator Licensure and Renewal (ELAR) system to support our educators, prospective educators, school districts and approved preparation programs (sponsoring organizations).

The new ELAR system is scheduled to go live to external users on Thursday, May 2nd. To assist in the migration of data from the current ELAR system to the new system, ELAR will not be available to internal and external users as of Thursday, April 25th at 9:00 a.m. We ask that users plan accordingly for this downtime during the transition, and we appreciate your patience.

Users will continue to access ELAR via the Department's Security Portal. As a result, Users will not need a new username or password to access the system.

Like the current version of ELAR, individual users will be able to apply online for licensure and license renewal, upload documents, monitor their status and more. School districts will continue to be able to request expedites, apply for waivers, upload documents and view ELAR statuses while sponsoring organizations will continue to endorse candidates for licenses and endorsements as well as upload reports.

The new version of ELAR will have a modern look with users conducting business through two main areas - their dashboard and profile. New features will include but not be limited to a more streamlined way to conduct name changes, the ability to pay using services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay and more.

The Department partnered with Level Data (formerly known as RANDA) in the development of the new system. They have also developed licensure systems in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Colorado and Montana. User guides and training videos will soon be made available. Please visit the "latest news" section on the licensure homepage for these resources and other important licensure headlines.

The current version of ELAR went live over 20 years ago (2003) and was one of the first online educator licensure systems. Since then, the system has facilitated the review of more than 1.5 million applications resulting in over 571,000 licenses and endorsements being issued along with the renewal of 132,000 educators and 477,000 licenses. In addition, internal IT staff have maintained ELAR to accommodate changes to regulations while developing enhancements such as the ability to upload documents directly into the system.