How to Become a Teacher in Alaska

Alaska certification requirements, step by step

Each requirement below is stated as Alaska Department of Education & Early Development — Teacher Education and Certification publishes it, with the governing source cited.

1. 1

   Finish an approved teacher preparation program and bachelor’s degree

   Applicants with fewer than two years of teaching experience apply for an Initial Teacher Certificate. Submit official transcripts showing a bachelor’s degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution and a State Approved Program Verification Form for Teachers (or a credential evaluation if the program was completed outside the United States).

   Source: education.alaska.gov

2. 2

   Pass an approved basic competency exam and content-area exam

   Alaska requires passing scores in reading, writing, and mathematics on an approved basic competency examination. Praxis Core qualifying scores published by DEED are Reading (5713) 156, Writing (5723) 162, and Math (5733) 150; scores from listed exams may be combined across vendors. Content-area examinations are required for Initial, Professional, and Master teaching certificates.

   Source: education.alaska.gov

3. 3

   Complete mandatory trainings and mail fingerprint cards

   Complete the four Mandatory Trainings and upload at least one verification document in TEACH-AK. Fingerprint cards are the only items DEED still accepts by mail—send them to Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, PO Box 110500, Juneau, AK 99811-0500. All other documents must be uploaded in TEACH-AK. The fingerprint processing fee is $60.

   Source: education.alaska.gov

4. 4

   Apply in TEACH-AK and pay the $200 certificate fee

   Register once in the Educator Application & Certification Hub (TEACH-AK). DEED reviews applications in the order received; published processing time is 5–7 weeks. The Initial Teacher Certificate fee is $200 and is non-refundable. Your certificate’s effective date is the date the complete packet is received—DEED does not send expiration reminders.

   Source: education.alaska.gov

5. 5

   Complete Alaska studies and multicultural coursework, then advance

   If those six semester hours are already done, DEED issues an Initial Three-Year certificate. If not, you receive an Initial Two-Year certificate that may be extended once, at no charge, for one year after you finish three semester hours of approved Alaska studies and three semester hours of approved Alaska multicultural coursework. The Initial 2/3-year certificate is not renewable; next apply for the five-year Professional Teacher Certificate (formerly Type A) after two years of experience.

   Source: education.alaska.gov

Alaska still talks about Type A in the field, but DEED’s current regular certificate is the Professional Teacher Certificate. The Initial 2/3-year credential is the on-ramp for anyone with fewer than two years of experience, including Alaska-prepared graduates. The Initial Five-Year certificate exists only for people who already held an Initial 2/3-year certificate and still lack the two years of experience needed for Professional—it is not a first-time option. Mixing those names up in TEACH-AK is a common reason an application is filed under the wrong type.

The six semester hours of Alaska studies and Alaska multicultural coursework are the state’s most distinctive academic gate. Newcomers may apply without them and teach on the two-year Initial, then use the free one-year extension once transcripts land. Those same courses can also satisfy the six-semester-hour recency requirement for the Professional certificate if they were completed in the previous five years. DEED publishes the approved course list; random Alaska-themed electives do not count.

Paper still matters in a digital system. TEACH-AK will not accept emailed transcripts or mailed packets except fingerprint cards sent to the Juneau PO Box. Processing is 5–7 weeks in the order received, and the effective date is the complete-packet date, not the hire date. Educators who assume DEED will email an expiration warning will lapse; the department says it does not notify individuals of impending expiration dates.

K-3 assignment adds a reading layer on top of ordinary content testing. The Alaska Reads Act K-3 Teacher endorsement is required to teach grades K-3, and DEED’s content-exam page lists specific Praxis Teaching Reading forms and Pearson Foundations of Reading (minimum 240) among accepted reading exams. A secondary-prepared teacher who later picks up a primary classroom cannot treat the original content Praxis as enough for that assignment.

Required exams and fees

Alaska uses Approved basic competency examination (commonly Praxis Core) plus Praxis II or other approved content-area exams; Alaska Reads Act reading exams for K-3. Fees and cut scores appear only when published by the cited source (as of September 2026).

Moving a license to Alaska

Educators with a current, valid, regular out-of-state teacher certificate and two years of teaching under that certificate may apply for Alaska’s Professional Out-of-State Teacher Certificate. DEED defines a regular certificate as a renewable license that required a bachelor’s degree and an approved preparation program with student teaching—not a restricted, emergency, substitute, or temporary credential. The out-of-state certificate must still be valid when Alaska instructional service begins. The Professional Out-of-State certificate is valid for two years and may be extended once for three years after Alaska studies and multicultural coursework. Out-of-country teacher certificates are not accepted for this pathway.

Official Alaska reciprocity guidance