Helping You Move to the Next Level

To Apply for your Michigan Professional Certification you must:       

• Hold a Michigan Provisional Certificate
• Teach successfully for three years after the issuance of the provisional certificate and according to its validity.
• Show evidence of coursework in reading methods: six semester credits for elementary, three for secondary.
• Earn 18 semester credits after the issuance of the provisional certificate in a planned course of study. (Applicants with an earned master's degree or higher are not required to complete the 18-credit planned program.)
• Apply for your Michigan Professional Certificate through the grand Valley's Registrar's office if you've completed the majority of your coursework at the institution.

If necessary, the Provisional Certificate may be renewed for a three-year period upon completion of ten credits from the 18-credit planned program. A second three-year renewal is available upon completion of all 18 credits.    

Renewing your Michigan Professional Certificate:

• The Michigan Professional Certificate (earned after June 30, 1992) must be renewed every five (5) years
• Completion of six (6) semester credits or eighteen (18) State Board Continuing Education Units (SB-CEUs), or any combination of the two. (Three SB-CEUs are equivalent to one semester credit.)
• Teachers holding a Provisional Certificate are not eligible for SB-CEUs.
• Courses used for renewal of the Professional Certificate need not be in a planned program, but must be taken at an approved education institution and must be taken within the five-year period.
• Apply for Michigan Professional Certificate through the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) (517)373-3310. Students may obtain the application from the MDE Web site: www.Michigan.gov/mde

Applying for Certification and Endorsements: