Applying for your Ohio License
Congratulations on completing your program! It is now time to apply for your license. Please follow the directions below.
Before you apply
In order for your license to be cleared by The Ohio State University:
- Official, electronic copies of your required licensure exam scores must have been received by Ohio State.
- There must be a grade, on your official record, for all required courses.
- Your degree must be conferred (if applicable). Typically, this is completed on or around the date of graduation.
- You must have met all program and licensure requirements.
Please do not apply for your license until a week prior to completion of your program. Your application can expire if you apply before all of the above are completed.
Applying
The licensure application is completed on the Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) website. The CORE User Manual will walk you through the steps of the process.
- If you are applying for a new teacher, administrator, or pupil services license select “Apply for a NEW credential.”
- Teacher: Early Childhood, Primary, Middle Childhood, Adolescent to Young Adult, Career Technical, Multi-Age, Intervention Specialist
- Administrator: Principal, Superintendent
- Pupil Services: School Audiologist, School Counselor, School Nurse, School Psychologist, School Speech-Language Pathologist, School Social Worker, Orientation and Mobility Specialist
- If you are adding an endorsement or teaching field to your license select “Take action on my EXISTING credential.”
After you have selected your license and answered a few questions, the application will ask about your educator preparation. Select "I completed an Ohio approved educator preparation program at a college or university." You can search for the university by name or enter Ohio State’s IRN number: 063214.
Licensure Clearance
Once you have submitted your application, ODE will notify the Office of Accreditation, Placement, and Licensure (APL) at Ohio State. Your application will say that it is awaiting a Dean’s signature while APL is reviewing it.
APL will verify the items below and the completion of any additional program, university, or state requirements:
- Required Licensure Exam Scores
- GPA Requirements
- Program Completion
- Opioid Module
- Degree Conferral (If Applicable)
- Ohio Standards Module (If Applicable)
- Base Credential (If Applicable)
After your degree has been conferred (when applicable), it can take up to 30 days for your licensure application to be reviewed, verified, and approved/declined. Please be patient with this process. Once your license is approved by Ohio State and ODE, a PDF version will be available for download on your CORE dashboard.
Out of State Licensure
Ohio State academic programs are designed to prepare students for licensure or certification in Ohio. It is highly recommended that you apply for your Ohio license. Even if you plan on teaching out of state, obtaining your Ohio license will help in transferring your license now and in the future. Failure to get your license upon completion of the program could lead to unexpected challenges and additional future requirements.
Steps for out of state verification:
- Review and complete the licensure process for the state which you are moving to. Links to each state can be found on the Office of Distance Education and eLearning’s website.
- Most states have an education preparation verification form that says it needs to be completed by the Dean of Education, or his/her designee. Please send the form to edprep@osu.edu for completion.
- Please allow at least two weeks for your request to be verified and the form to be completed by APL.
- APL will submit the completed form based on document directions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ohio State can only approve renewals for Ohio State employees. All others should have their renewal applications approved by their Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC) or by ODE. More information can be found on the ODE website.
ODE is best suited to help with application issues. They can be reached at educator.licensure@education.ohio.gov. If you have a question about program completion or the Ohio State clearance process, you can contact APL at edprep@osu.edu.
Applications can be declined for a number of reasons, such as applying for the incorrect license, incomplete information, or not meeting all licensure requirements. You will receive an email with an explanation as to why your application was declined.
It is a federal law that no one other than the person listed on a background check can distribute a copy of the background check to a third person. You have to request that your background check is sent to ODE at the time of completion. To find out if the background check on file is still valid, contact ODE at educator.licensure@education.ohio.gov.