Teacher Cert Pathfinder

Transferring a Virginia teaching licence to North Carolina

Corridor record≈350 teachers a year ±20%

Open question · confirm with the agencyread 10 Sep 2026

Will NCDPI accept your Virginia summative evaluation as the “effectiveness data” that decides between the Continuing and the Initial Professional License?

Who can answer: NCDPI Licensure, 919-716-1800 (press 2 for a Licensure Specialist; calls Monday–Friday 10:00–17:00 Eastern) or 800-577-7994 toll-free within North Carolina; asklicensure@dpi.nc.gov

Without effectiveness data from the state where you held a current licence, NCDPI says you may only qualify for the Initial Professional License: three years, non-renewable, with North Carolina’s exams to be attempted in the first year and passed by the third unless your Virginia exams are accepted as comparable. DPI’s example is a final summative evaluation signed by both your supervising school official and you, with a link to the model behind the rating — a document you need from your Virginia school before you leave it.

The published rules do not settle this. We have not yet put the question to the agency; when it answers, the answer and its date go here.

Every entry is cited and dated. Where it is not settled:To confirm with the agencyNot published by the agencyNot in our record yetChanged on a date

Which framework applies to you

Virginia
Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact member (enacted 2026)
North Carolina
Not a compact member

North Carolina licence terms: Initial Professional License (IPL), 3 years.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Route

Which regime applies

Virginia is a member of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact and North Carolina is not, so the compact does nothing for this move. NCDPI evaluates a Virginia teacher on completion of an approved preparation programme, and issues the Initial or the Continuing Professional License depending on experience, exams and effectiveness data.
Council of State Governments, National Center for Interstate CompactsInterstate Teacher Mobility Compact — member states

Which compact members actually operate the route →

Moving on military orders? Federal law gives a military spouse a separate route: a covered teaching certificate is valid in the new state on three documents. North Carolina’s education agency names that route on its own pages, and still prints a two-year condition the federal law dropped in 2024. What federal law and North Carolina publish →

United States Congress — 50 U.S.C. §4025a as amended by Pub. L. 118-159 §587 (text as published by the Mississippi Real Estate Commission)50 U.S.C. §4025a — Portability of professional licenses of servicemembers and their spousesNorth Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureMilitary Licensure Pathways

What North Carolina requires

Route

What North Carolina calls reciprocity

North Carolina defines reciprocity as acknowledging that you completed an educator preparation programme in another state, and it recognises approved programmes from all states. It is not licence-for-licence.
NC defines reciprocity as the acknowledgement of completion of an educator preparation program in another state or jurisdiction outside of NC.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Framework

Not a compact member

North Carolina is not a member of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, so a sending state’s membership does nothing on arrival.
Council of State Governments, National Center for Interstate CompactsInterstate Teacher Mobility Compact — member states

Who qualifies

Which licence you get

A PreK-12 teacher with three or more years of experience can get the Continuing Professional License with comparable exams and effectiveness data from another state where they hold a current licence. Without the effectiveness data, they may only qualify for the Initial Professional License.
If effectiveness data is not provided with your NC CPL application you may only qualify for the IPL.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureFurther Educator License Information (Convert an IPL to a CPL; CPL; alternate routes; CTE)

What to gather

What “effectiveness data” means

DPI’s example is a final summative performance evaluation, signed by both the supervising school official and the applicant, from the state where you were employed with a current licence, plus a link to the definition of the evaluation model. Student growth data is included where applicable.
a final official signed (by both the supervising school official and NC license applicant) summative performance evaluation from the state where you were employed with current licensure and a link to the definition of the model leading to the performance rating.

This is the fourth destination in this project, after New Jersey, New York and Georgia, where a deciding document has to come from a school you have left.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureFurther Educator License Information (Convert an IPL to a CPL; CPL; alternate routes; CTE)

Teaching meanwhile

The Initial Professional License

The Initial Professional License lasts three years and cannot be renewed.
Initial License (IPL) is for 3 years and is non-renewable
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Deadline

Exams can come after the licence

You can be licensed before meeting the exam requirement if every other requirement is met. On an Initial Professional License, North Carolina’s required exams must be attempted in the first year and passed before or during the third.
the North Carolina required licensure exam(s) must be attempted in the first year of the license and passed before or during the third year of the license.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Exemption

Your own state’s exams can count

Another state’s licensure exams are accepted in place of North Carolina’s if North Carolina has a comparable licence area and you have three or more years of classroom teaching.
Yes, provided North Carolina has a comparable license area and you have 3 or more years of classroom teaching experience.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

How it goes wrong

Comparable means the test developer’s passing score

An out-of-state exam counts only if your score meets the passing score recommended by the test developer, whatever passing score your own state used.
The applicant demonstrates an exam(s) score(s) that meets or exceeds the passing score(s) recommended by the test developer, regardless of the passing score adopted by the other state.

A teacher who passed at their own state’s cut score may not have passed by North Carolina’s measure. Neither score is published on the pages captured.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Not publishedNot published by the agency

No test substitution for new elementary and special-education teachers

If your programme led to Elementary Education or Exceptional Children: General Curriculum and you have fewer than three years of classroom teaching, your other state’s tests are not accepted.
No, if you completed another state's approved EPP leading to the Elementary Education and/or Exceptional Children: General Curriculum license, and have fewer than 3 years of classroom teaching experience.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Exemption

Courses instead of tests, for some

An out-of-state teacher with three or more years who holds the Initial Professional License in Elementary Education (K-6) or Exceptional Children: General Curriculum (K-12), and is employed in a North Carolina public school, can take state-approved foundations courses in reading and mathematics instead of the tests to convert to the Continuing Professional License.
have the option to either pass NC SBE required licensure testing (see file linked at bottom of page) or complete state-approved foundations courses in reading and math to convert the IPL to the CPL.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Examinations

A pedagogy assessment for recent graduates

To convert to the Continuing Professional License, anyone who completed their programme on or after 1 September 2019 — in state or out of state — needs edTPA or PPAT as well as content exams.
either edTPA or PPAT are required for all applicants (in-state and out-of-state) who are awarded educator preparation program degrees or complete approved educator licensure programs on or after September 1, 2019.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

FeeTo confirm with the agency

Fees

Non-refundable service fees range from $30 to $100. DPI does not say on the pages captured which fee applies to a first licence.
Non-refundable service fees range from $30 - $100.

The amount for an out-of-state initial application is unresolved until the State Board fee policy can be read or DPI confirms it.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

What to gather

An alternative route needs a letter from your state

If you qualified through an alternative route, it must be verified by a letter from the department of education or licensing board of the state where you completed it.
Alternative route programs that lead to licensure must be verified by letter from the state's department of education or licensing board where the approved route was completed.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureApply for a NC Educator License

Military familiesTo confirm with the agency

Military families can teach without a North Carolina licence

NCDPI says military personnel and spouses whose current out-of-state licence was actively used as an educator in the two years before relocation can begin teaching immediately, paid on the North Carolina salary schedule. No North Carolina licence is issued under this provision.
North Carolina allows military personnel (and spouses) with out-of-state teaching credentials to immediately begin teaching in NC public schools.

CONFLICT WITH FEDERAL LAW, recorded 10 September 2026. The two-year active-use condition on NCDPI’s page is the wording of 50 U.S.C. §4025a before Congress amended it on 23 December 2024. The Justice Department states there is no longer any active-use requirement for SCRA portability. Which condition NCDPI applies to a teacher today is unresolved.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureMilitary Licensure Pathways

Deadline

And when that ends

The provision lasts until the military orders expire or 30 June of that year, whichever is later. After that, a North Carolina licence means meeting every State Board requirement in force at the time.
The provision will remain in effect until the military orders expires or June 30th of that same year, whichever is later.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureMilitary Licensure Pathways

How long

No published processing time

None of the DPI licensure pages captured publishes a processing time.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureApply for a NC Educator License

Order of steps

Four steps, all online

DPI’s four steps: complete an approved preparation programme; gather degree-dated transcripts, exam scores, your out-of-state licence, Form V and one experience form per employer; register in the NCDPI Online Licensure System and upload everything; pay the fee by card.
Upload all requested documentation into the online application for licensure.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureApply for a NC Educator License

Military families

The federal route: three documents, no tests

Separately from any North Carolina provision, federal law (50 U.S.C. §4025a) makes a military spouse’s covered teaching certificate valid in the new state on an application of three documents: the military orders, the marriage certificate, and a notarized affidavit. The Justice Department says a licensing authority may not ask an SCRA portability applicant for transcripts or test scores.
the law does not permit requesting transcripts or test scores.

The Justice Department also reports that spouses who asked explicitly about SCRA portability have been told no such pathway exists. Whether the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact is the kind of compact that removes this route under §4025a(e) was not established; North Carolina is not a compact member either way.

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights DivisionProfessional License Portability (SCRA) — guidance and FAQ, updated 19 December 2025

Deadline

Thirty days, or a temporary licence

If a licensing authority cannot recognise a covered licence within 30 days of an SCRA portability application, federal law allows it to issue a temporary licence carrying the same rights as a permanent one.
the licensing authority may issue to the applicant a temporary license that confers the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as a permanent license
United States Congress — 50 U.S.C. §4025a as amended by Pub. L. 118-159 §587 (text as published by the Mississippi Real Estate Commission)50 U.S.C. §4025a — Portability of professional licenses of servicemembers and their spouses

Your Virginia credential

What Virginia calls the certificate you hold, and where it sits in Virginia’s own tiers — the thing North Carolina will compare.

Credential tier

The Provisional License

Nonrenewable, valid for up to three years, and issued to someone with allowable deficiencies for full licensure. Every requirement for a renewable licence, including all licensure assessments, must be completed within it.
The Provisional License is a nonrenewable license valid for a period not to exceed three years issued to an individual who has allowable deficiencies for full licensure as set forth in this chapter.
Virginia Board of Education (Virginia Administrative Code, published by the Virginia General Assembly)8VAC20-23-50 Types of licenses; dating licenses

Credential tier

Middle education is limited to the concentration on the licence

A Virginia middle education 6-8 licence lists one or more concentrations — English, mathematics, science, or history and social sciences — and the holder may teach only those.
The applicant will be restricted to teaching only in the area or areas of concentration listed on the teaching license.
Virginia Board of Education (Virginia Administrative Code, published by the Virginia General Assembly)8VAC20-23-170 Middle education 6-8

Credential tier

The renewable licences

The Collegiate Professional License is a 10-year renewable licence for someone who has met every licensure requirement, including a bachelor’s degree and Virginia’s professional teacher’s assessments. The Postgraduate Professional License is the same with a graduate degree.
The Collegiate Professional License is a 10-year, renewable license available to an individual who has satisfied all requirements for licensure
Virginia Board of Education (Virginia Administrative Code, published by the Virginia General Assembly)8VAC20-23-50 Types of licenses; dating licenses

The endorsement, side by side

The secondary mathematics endorsement in Virginia and North Carolina
VirginiaNorth Carolina
Certificate or endorsementMathematicsSecondary (9-12) licence in mathematics
Grade band6–12 (the regulation groups it under “secondary grades 6-12”)9–12
Named examinationNot in our record yetNot in our record yet
Virginia Board of Education (Virginia Administrative Code, published by the Virginia General Assembly)8VAC20-23-430 MathematicsNorth Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureAreas of Licensure

Note the grade-band mismatch. Virginia issues 6–12 (the regulation groups it under “secondary grades 6-12”); North Carolina issues 9–12. Whether that matters depends on whether the destination applies an identity test or a comparability test — and those are different tests with different outcomes.

What it costs to get this corridor wrong

Money, time and outcomes, each set by a rule or published by the agency and cited on its entry. None is our estimate.

Outcome

Three non-renewable years on the Initial Professional License

Without effectiveness data from Virginia you may only qualify for the IPL, and North Carolina’s exams must then be passed before or during its third year.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureFurther Educator License Information (Convert an IPL to a CPL; CPL; alternate routes; CTE)

Examinations

A Virginia pass that is not a North Carolina pass

Another state’s exam counts only if your score meets the test developer’s recommended passing score, regardless of the score Virginia required.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

Blocked route

Under three years, in elementary or special education

Other states’ tests are not accepted for Elementary Education or Exceptional Children: General Curriculum if you have fewer than three years of classroom teaching.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureForms and FAQs

A school year

A spouse who never converts

The military provision issues no North Carolina licence and ends when the orders expire or on 30 June of that year. After that, every State Board requirement in force applies.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Educator LicensureMilitary Licensure Pathways

Nothing here is a prediction about your file. It is what the published rules say happens, and what the agency charges, if a step is taken in the wrong order or on the wrong document.

Licence classes on this corridor

This corridor covers 6 licence classes: Secondary mathematics, Elementary, Middle grades, Secondary science, Secondary English language arts, Special education. The requirements above apply to all of them. No pack is written for any of them yet. Subject-specific facts are on the North Carolina page where we have them.

Where these facts come from

This page cites 9 sources. Every one is named on the entry that uses it, with the date we read it. The full register, including what we archived and what we could not retrieve, is at every source we cite.

Everything we have verified about North Carolina → · About Virginia →

Cite this page: Teacher Cert Pathfinder, “Virginia to North Carolina,” record as of 10 September 2026. Changes and corrections are logged on What changed.