Educator Services Licensure
Recertification

Licensure vs. Renewal of Professional License

This information will assist you in deciding whether you need to apply for a license or recertify (renew) your license.

Note: The application form for licensure and the application form for recertification cannot be used interchangeably. They are not the same and do not serve the same purpose.

There are three levels of licensure:

1. Provisional
2. Initial (formerly Provisional with advanced Standing)
3. Professional (formerly Standard )

You would renew a license (using the Recertification application) if you:

• Have been issued a Professional level license (Standard certificate).
  
  The renewal process is on-going with validity cycles of five years.
  All professional level licenses have validity cycles of five years from the date the professional level license was issued or its last renewal date. These may be renewed by the successful completion of the appropriate number of professional development points (PDPs) as set forth in 603 CMR 44.05 (2), 44.06 (1), or 44.07 (1) within a five year cycle as outlined in Appendix A of the Recertification Guidelines.

You would apply for a license (using the Licensure application) if you:

• Are applying for your first educator's license in Massachusetts, or
  
  
• Are applying for a license in an additional field and/or level, or
  
  
• Already hold a license and are seeking a higher level - going from either Provisional to Initial(formerly Provisional with Advanced Standing), or from Initial to Professional, (formerly Standard),
  
  
• Are holding an Initial license (formerly Provisional with Advanced Standing) under which you have been employed for the allotted five years. Note that the Initial license is valid for five years of employment and may be extended ("renew" in this case refers to "extending" the license, not recertification) at the discretion of the Commissioner for an additional five years if you have not yet fulfilled the requirements to move up to the Professional level license.