Texas teacher licensure for out-of-state applicants

Route

Texas does not have reciprocity with any other state, meaning it does not automatically recognize or accept out-of-state teaching certificates to move into immediate issuance of a standard certificate in Texas.

ChangeChanged 2 Aug 2026

House Bill 1178, enacted by the 89th Texas Legislature, requires that any out-of-state certificate submitted for a Review of Credentials must be both valid and active at the time the complete application is received.

19 TAC §§230.111 and 230.113 amended to be effective 2 August 2026, 51 TexReg 4864, under TEC §21.0521 as added by HB 1178, 89th Leg. R.S. 2025.

Order of steps

Framework

(4) one year, as specified in §230.113 of this title

ChangeTakes effect 1 Sep 2027

293 Science of Teaching Reading TExES and 491 Core Subjects EC–6 TExES (Starting no earlier than 9/1/2027)

19 TAC §233.2. A dated transition printed in the rule figure. Anyone planning an elementary move across the 2027 boundary needs to know which examination will be operational when they sit it, and any guide naming only the 391 will be wrong from that date.

Who qualifies

The certificate or other credential issued by the authorized licensing agency in another state or territory of the United States may not be an expired certificate, a temporary permit, a credential issued by a city or school district, or a certificate for which academic or other program deficiencies are indicated.

19 TAC §230.111(c). A 'standard certificate' is defined at 19 TAC §230.1(22) as one issued to a person who has met all requirements for a class of certification.

Exemption

Exemption

Examinations

Established by HB 3, 86th Texas Legislature, effective 1 January 2021. Classroom teaching experience alone does not exempt; Reading Academies cannot be used to exempt.

Who qualifies

Who qualifies

Military familiesTo confirm with the agency

The statutory provisions were confirmed through TEA’s published SBEC materials. The current text of 19 TAC ch. 234 has not been read, and TEA does not state in one place how §55.0041 interacts with the Review of Credentials requirement.

Who qualifies

A teacher who holds a valid provisional, professional, standard, or enhanced standard classroom teaching certificate ... may qualify for an additional teaching field or certification to teach at another level by passing the appropriate certification examination(s) for that subject.

19 TAC §230.105. This matters most when the receiving state’s rule asks for a “professional standard” certificate, as Florida’s does: a Texas Standard Certificate is its holder’s highest current classroom credential, which is a materially stronger position than a sending state whose full tier sits below a separately-named professional one.

Teaching meanwhile

If all certification requirements are met except the appropriate examination requirements, the applicant may request issuance of a one-year certificate in one or more certification areas authorized on the out-of-state certificate. The one-year certificate is issued immediately following the successful completion of the credentials review and the fingerprinting and background check processes.

19 TAC §230.113(b). It is a separate application with its own fee, and a supplemental certificate cannot be added to it (§230.113(e)). What happens if the examinations are not passed within the year is under “How it goes wrong”.

What to gather

A complete credentials review application includes: A submitted review of credentials application and payment of the required fee A copy of your out-of-state standard certificate uploaded to your ECOS account An official transcript sent directly to TEA from the issuing institution

TEA adds: “Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit score reports and verification of experience for test exemption as part of their initial credentials review application.” Sending them later means a second round.

Fee

19 TAC §230.101(a)(6)(B). Section last amended effective 19 May 2024, 49 TexReg 3551.

Fee

19 TAC §230.101(a)(7).

Fee

19 TAC §230.101(a)(2).

Fee

Selected Response- Only Assessments--$116

Which category a particular TExES test belongs to is not stated in the rule. Confirm the price at registration.

FeeTo confirm with the agency

2.25% plus $0.25 for each credit or debit card transaction processed

What is unresolved: 19 TAC §230.103 authorises a supplement “for the purpose of recovering the costs of the state electronic Internet portal” and fixes no amount. Texas.gov is that portal and the rate above is its published card rate, but WE HAVE NOT CONFIRMED that TEA’s supplement equals it, and DIR does not state who bears the charge. The $7.16 is an estimate on the $285 of TEA fees, shown so the total is plannable — treat it as our arithmetic on a published rate, not as a fee TEA has stated. eCheck is free at the portal where the payment page offers it.

Fee

If you choose to be fingerprinted at a MorphoTrust/IdentoGO out-of state location, an additional fee of $49.95 will be assessed, and will be paid during appointment scheduling.

The $49.00 base is $39.00 paid in ECOS during the application plus $10.00 to IdentoGO at scheduling. The $49.95 out-of-state surcharge is the line that matters here and it is published in a TEA help-desk article, not on any certification page and not in 19 TAC §230.101(a)(9), which says only that the fee is “posted on the Texas Education Agency website”.

How long

we encourage you to allow sufficient time for review, generally 6 to 8 weeks during our busiest months, April-September.

How long

TEA republishes these two figures continuously. Treat as a snapshot.

Deadline

An individual who does not submit all required documents for the review at the time of the application will have one year to submit all required documents or the individual will be required to reapply and resubmit the application fee.

19 TAC §230.117(b).

How it goes wrong

Click on the "One-Year Certificate-$52," box and then follow the prompts to complete the process.

The rule-based amounts are recorded as tx-fee-oneyear and tx-fee-standard. The difference may be the E-Pay supplemental fee the rule authorises without a stated amount, but TEA does not say so on the checklist, and that explanation is not asserted.

How it goes wrong

An applicant issued a one-year certificate under this section who does not complete the appropriate examination requirements to establish eligibility for a standard certificate during the validity of the one-year certificate, is not eligible for any type of certificate or permit authorizing employment for the same certificate until he or she has satisfied the appropriate examination requirements.

19 TAC §230.113(d).

How it goes wrong

Forms must be submitted directly by the verifying entity.

How it goes wrong

Please do not request that transcripts be sent to TEA by U.S. mail. Official transcripts must be submitted electronically to OSC75@tea.texas.gov for processing.

How it goes wrong

19 TAC §233.2. This is the opposite of secondary mathematics, where the STR requirement does not apply at all. Two separate TEA statements narrow the escape routes: “Classroom teaching experience alone does not qualify an applicant for exemption from the STR exam”, and “Completion of the Reading Academies cannot be used for STR test exemption.” An out-of-state elementary teacher with twenty years of experience may still have to sit the STR.