Educator Licensure

Class 2 standard teaching license: This is the license that new graduates and teachers who do not have a master’s degree in an endorsable area should apply for. To qualify you must have a bachelor’s degree and you must have completed a teacher’s preparation program which included student teaching. Click the link for more specific requirements.

Class 1 professional teaching license: if you meet the Class 2 requirements, but also have a master’s degree in an endorsable teaching area you should apply for this license. Click the link for more specific requirements.

Class 3 administrative license: This is the license for administrators: Superintendents, Principals, and Supervisors. You must be able to qualify for a Montana Class 1, 2, or 5 teaching license, or Class 6 School Counselor license, and have at least 3 years of licensed experience as a classroom teacher in a PK-12 school. Click each link for more specific requirements.

Class 4 career and technical license: This is the appropriate license if you want to teach career and technical education (CTE) classes. There are three types of CTE licenses

• Class 4 A—this type of license is for teachers who currently hold a Montana teaching license.
• Class 4 B—this type of license requires an apprenticeship program completion, or a degree, and 5,000 hours of verifiable experience in the area of requested endorsement.
• Class 4 C— no degree is required for this type of license, it can be obtained if an applicant has at least 5,000 hours of verifiable experience.

Class 5 provisional license: This license will allow you to work at a Montana school district while you complete the requirements to upgrade to a full license. Class 5 provisional licenses are available for current Montana residents, or individuals who have been offered a job by a Montana P-12 school. There are three types of Class 5 licenses.

• Class 5A— this license is valid for one year and can be issued to individuals seeking their initial Montana license who meet all licensure requirements except need to complete a Praxis test.
• Class 5B— this license is valid for three years and can be issued to individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree but have not completed an approved educator preparation program.
• Class 5C— this license is valid for three years and can be issued to individuals who have completed an educator preparation program but their degree is more than five years old, they do not hold a current out of state/country license, and have not earned 60 professional development units within the 5 years prior to the validity of the provisional license.

Provisional licenses are only available once per teaching license. Click the link for more specific requirements for each of the three provisional license types.

Class 6 specialist license: For School Psychologists and School Counselors.

Class 7 American Indian language and culture specialist license: This license is granted upon recommendation from a Montana tribe for Native American language and culture instruction only.

Class 8 dual credit post-secondary faculty license: This is the license for dual credit teachers employed by a Montana college or university, who are teaching classes for high school students that are earning both high school and college credits.

Current Licensure Fees

You are now able to print your current license and license history through the TeachMT (TMT) licensing system.

To print your license(s):

1. log into your educator record through TMT
2. you will be taken directly to your dashboard once you log in
3. from your Dashboard, click on the license you would like to print
4. click the blue Print Certificate button

To print your license history:

1. log into your educator record through TMT
2. you will be taken directly to your dashboard once you log in
3. click on Profile
4. under Licenses, click Licenses
5. click the blue Print License History button

Montana does not have reciprocity with any state for teacher licensure. To get a Montana teaching license you will need to submit an application.
The application will require official transcripts, a fingerprint background check, a copy of your current out of state license, a university recommendation (which verifies you have completed a teacher preparation program, including student teaching and the endorsements you qualify for), a licensure fee, along with all other forms on the application.
All applications are submitted online through our licensing system, TeachMT.

If you completed an educator preparation program, the alternative program should complete our University or Alternative Program Recommendation for Teaching Endorsements form found in our license application.

The alternative program you completed should have state accreditation, and should lead to licensure in the state where you completed the program.

You will need to submit an application. The application will require official transcripts, a fingerprint background check, and a university recommendation (which verifies you have completed a teacher preparation program that included student teaching and the endorsements you qualify for), a licensure fee, along with all other forms on the application.

Here are a couple of links to the teaching licenses available in Montana:

Class 2 Standard Teaching License

Class 1 Professional Teaching License

If you haven’t completed a teacher preparation program but do have a bachelor’s degree earned at an institutionally accredited college or university, you can apply for a Class 5B provisional license. Along with the application, you will have to submit a plan of study from an institutionally accredited college or university that verifies you meet their criteria for enrollment and can complete a teacher preparation program within the three year term of this license. All forms are within the application in the licensing system, TeachMT.

The Class 5B provisional license allows you to teach in the classroom for up to three years while you are completing your coursework. At the end of three years, the Class 5B license will expire and cannot be renewed.

You can upgrade your Class 5B license to a Class 2 standard teaching license or Class 1 professional teaching license any time during the term of the license, as long as you have fulfilled your Plan of Professional Intent.

The Class 5 license is non-renewable and can only be held once per teaching career.

The Office of Public Instruction does not determine degree, credit or program equivalencies for persons with credentials from outside the United States. Please work directly with a recognized credentials evaluation agency, have the appropriate evaluation sent to you, and include it with your application. The Office of Public Instruction accepts evaluations from any one of the members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). Current NACES Members  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

An acceptable evaluation must include:

1. A course-by-course analysis of each foreign transcript
   2. Documentation of student teaching or supervised teaching experience

Be sure to submit all transcripts applicable to your Montana educator license to the credential evaluation agency.

The applicant is responsible for any charge associated with the foreign transcript evaluation.

Canadian students applying directly to Montana for licensure must submit a foreign credential evaluation. Canadian students whose credits have been accepted by a Montana university may waive this requirement.

In this context, an internship means an agreement between a Montana licensee, a Montana school district, and a Montana university that can prepare you for a new endorsement area.

No. The Teaching Internship Program is an agreement between the educator, a Montana school district, and a Montana college/university only.

An Internship agreement is valid for one year at a time for up to three years. The Montana university is the entity who reports internships to the Office of Public Instruction.

Yes, you must hold a current Montana Class 1 or Class 2 teaching license, or a Montana Class 3 administrative license.

Internships are applied for through the Montana university where you are enrolled. The university will submit your internship application via the TeachMT licensing system. You should work with your university to complete the application process.

No. An internship cannot follow a Class 5 in the same endorsement area.

If you are not able to fulfill the Plan of Professional Intent requirements you agreed to when you were issued your Class 5B license, the Class 5B license will expire and cannot be extended or renewed. You can submit an Add Endorsement application once you have completed your EPP.

You can participate in an internship and accept a Principal job in Montana as long as you qualify for a Montana teaching license: Standard Class 2, Professional Class 1, or School Counselor Class 6, and have 3 years of licensed experience in an approved school.

If you have completed a principal administrative preparation program but did not complete a three semester credit course in School Law to include Special Education Law, you can hold a Class 5 for your principal endorsement, and participate in an internship for your superintendent endorsement.

Yes. The Administrative Rules of Montana allow you to participate in a Principal and Superintendent internship simultaneously. However, you will need to confirm that you can meet the university's enrollment requirement

TeachMT (TMT) allows you to log in using your email address. Everyone must reset their password the first time they log into TMT.

If you have not logged into the licensing system since June 1, 2022, and your email address has changed, send an email to cert@mt.gov requesting that we update your email address. You should include your full name and previous email address in the email you send us.

We will then update your email address and send you instructions so you can reset your password and log into TMT.

If you have ever worked at a Montana school district, you have a State Educator Identification number (SEID) that the school district created for you for reporting purposes.

When you get a message that your name and social security number do not match, that usually means that your Social Security Number or birthdate was incorrectly entered by your school district. Please call us at 406-444-3150 to address this problem.

You can find more information on our Professional Learning - Educators website.

Professional development unit approvals and professional development provider questions are answered on the Professional Learning website.
The Professional Learning team requests that you review the website if you have questions about topics such as:

• • Pre-Approval Processes for OPI Renewal Unit Certificates for non-approved professional development unit activities
  • locating professional development unit activities and professional training
  • how to navigate the process to provide OPI Professional Development Units to licensed MT educators.

Although your license expires on June 30, you have until August 31 to complete the 60 professional development units necessary to renew your license.

IMPORTANT: Don’t wait until the last minute to renew your license. During the summer months our staff is the busiest and it could take much longer to process your renewal application. You can apply for renewal any time after January 1 of the year your license expires. 

Prepare Now for Your License Renewal 

Online Renewal Application 

Please review the "Special Situations: Pre-Approval for OPI Renewal Unit Certificate" for more information regarding this process.

Professional development unit approvals and professional development unit provider questions are answered on the Professional Learning website.
The Professional Learning team requests that you review the website if you have questions about topics such as:

• • Pre-Approval Processes for OPI Renewal Unit Certificates for non-approved professional development unit activities
  • locating professional development unit activities and professional training
  • how to navigate the process to provide OPI Professional Development Units to licensed MT educators

Educators licensed in Montana who are living out of state, and participate in another state’s validated professional development activities, other than college/university credit, may use these professional development unit activities when the intent and structure of the process assures the meeting or exceeding of Montana professional development unit requirements for licensure.

Please review "Special Situations: Pre-Approval for OPI Renewal Unit Certificate" to learn about the process for requesting pre-approval for professional development units for a professional learning opportunity by a non-approved OPI Provider.

If you do not have the 60 professional development units earned by August 31st the year your license expires your license will lapse, but you may have one of two options.

If you have not previously held a Class 5 provisional license, and you reside in Montana or have been offered a job by a Montana school district, you can apply for a Class 5C license . This provisional license will allow you to work in a Montana school district while giving you up to three years to complete the requirements for reinstatement of your full license. Along with the Class 5 Reinstatement Application you will need to submit another fingerprint background check. The Class 5 provisional license is only available to you once during your career.

If you have earned 60 professional development units within the past 5 years, you can apply for reinstatement of your full license. You can apply for reinstatement of your license through the online licensing system, TeachMT. Your application requirements will include a new fingerprint background check, and the signed OPI professional development unit certificates.

To upgrade your Class 2 Standard teaching license to a Class 1 professional license you will need to have earned a master's degree in education or an endorsable teaching area from an institutionally accredited college/university.
*Upgrading your Class 2 teaching license to a Class 1 will not change the effective dates of your license.

Once you have an official transcript with your master's degree posted as awarded, you can submit an "Upgrade to Professional Teacher's License" application through the licensing system, TeachMT.
*If you earned your master's degree outside of your current license period, upgrading your license will not renew your license.

To qualify for a Class 1 license you need to have earned a master's degree in education or an endorsable area from an institutionally accredited college/university. You will need to provide an official transcript with your master's degree posted as awarded with your application.

Once you have an official transcript with your master's degree posted as awarded, you should submit an "Upgrade to Professional Teacher's License" application through the licensing system, TeachMT.
*Upgrading your teaching license from a Class 2 to a Class 1 will not change the effective dates of your license.
If you earned your master's degree outside of your current license period, upgrading your license will not renew your license.

In order to upgrade your Class 5 provisional license, you must submit an "Upgrade a Class 5" license application by the expiration date of June 30th of the year your Class 5 license expires.

You can upgrade your Class 5 license at any time once you have fulfilled your Plan of Professional Intent (PPI). If you do not remember the requirements on your PPI, you can access your signed PPI by logging into your educator record in TeachMT. If your license was issued prior to 07/01/2022, you will find your signed PPI in the Documents section of your educator record. If your license was issued on 07/01/2022 or after, you will find your PPI in the online application you submitted.

If you do not complete your Plan of Professional Intent within the term of your Class 5 (1 year for Class 5A, 3 years for Class 5B and 5C), your Class 5 license will lapse and it cannot be renewed or reinstated, nor upgraded after June 30th of the year of expiration. However, once you have met the full licensure requirements listed on your PPI you can apply for a full license.

See our webpage: Qualifying for an Endorsement.
*Adding an endorsement does not change the effective dates of your license.

Submit your application through the new licensing system: Teach Montana (TMT).
*Adding an endorsement does not change the effective dates of your license.

You can add an endorsement through an internship or with a Class 5 provisional license.  Both options allow you to teach while completing the program.

An internship is an agreement between your school, the college, and yourself. The internship is granted for one year and can be offered for 2 additional years as long as you are making adequate progress towards the completion of your program. Work together with your school and college to submit an internship application through the licensing system, TeachMT.

A Class 5B provisional license to add an endorsement requires you to reside in Montana, and submit a plan of study from an institutionally accredited college or university that verifies you meet their admission requirements and can complete your endorsement program within the three year term of this license. Submit a Class 5 application through the licensing system, TeachMT.

Review the Class 3 Administrative Principal License requirements.

If you meet all of the requirements for your principal’s license, but the School Law course you completed with your administrative preparation program did not contain Special Education law, you can apply for a Class 5 license which will allow you to work as a principal while giving you up to three years to complete the required course.

To qualify for a Class 5 provisional license you must be eligible for a Montana Class 1, 2, or 5 teaching license or school counseling license, or hold a current standard, unrestricted out of state license. Class 5 provisional licenses are available for Montana residents.

Yes. If you reside in Montana, are employed by a Montana school district, and are participating in an internship program through a Montana university, you can work as a principal or superintendent while you complete your administrative preparation program. You will need to contact the university to ensure you meet their enrollment requirements.

See more information on our Internships FAQs.

Information for lapsed licenses.