Utah Teacher Licensure Guide for Online Master's Students

Who Licenses Teachers in Utah, and Which Exams Does It Use?

Utah licenses teachers through Utah State Board of Education, Educator Licensing, and the exams it requires are the UFORA/Praxis, the Utah Foundations of Reading Assessment and Praxis school leader and counselor tests.

For the programs themselves, the online master's in education programs at universities in Utah are ranked at the in-state price, and the national and specialty lists cover schools in other states.

How Do I Get a Utah Teaching License With an Online Master's?

Getting a Utah teaching license with an online master's runs through two Utah licenses in sequence when your program is based in another state. The Utah State Board of Education sends a person enrolled in an educator preparation program elsewhere to the Associate Educator License, which lasts 3 years, cannot be renewed and cannot be transferred to other states. The board publishes one checklist per license area, from elementary to school leadership.

After you finish the program and meet the license requirements of the state it is in, the board's LER Upgrade to Professional application converts that license into the Professional Educator License. Degree level is not the gate for classroom teaching: the board asks for a program and a license, not a master's. Our elementary education and special education rankings list programs without recording whether Utah accepts them.

Which Exams Does Utah Require for Teacher Licensure?

The exams Utah requires for teacher licensure depend on the license area. The board requires the Utah Foundations of Reading Assessment, passed at 240, for Early Childhood, Elementary and Special Education candidates in Utah-based programs. In Utah-based programs, school leadership candidates pass Praxis 5412 (146) or Praxis 6990 (151), and school counselor candidates pass Praxis 5422 (153).

In other license areas a test is optional, because competency can also be shown through university coursework or state micro-credentials. The board's Out-of-State Testing Equivalency document shows whether a test taken elsewhere counts. Utah ended its Pedagogical Performance Assessment requirement effective June 10, 2024, but your program may still require exams to graduate and can decline to recommend you.

Can I Transfer a Teaching License to Utah From Another State?

A teaching license can transfer to Utah from another state through the License Equivalency Review, and the board asks for a bachelor's degree, a completed educator preparation program and a standard renewable license from the other state or country. Utah also joined the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, under which a Professional Educator License from a member state earns an equivalent Utah license. Probationary, provisional, substitute, LEA-specific and associate licenses do not qualify.

The table below comes from the 2020 Education Commission of the States comparison, which has no row for the compact, so rely on the board's description above for what Utah does today.

Does NC-SARA Membership Cover Teacher Licensure for Utah Online Master's Students?

NC-SARA membership does not cover teacher licensure for Utah online master's students. NC-SARA says SARA does not address professional licensing board approval for fields such as teacher education, so a school's SARA status shows only that it may enroll Utah residents online. Utah has belonged since August 2016 through WICHE, and the Utah State Board of Education alone decides who is licensed. SARA does oblige participating schools to notify you whether a program meets licensure requirements where you live.

What Should I Ask an Online Program Before Enrolling From Utah?

An online program owes a prospective Utah student a written answer on licensure before enrollment. 34 CFR 668.43 requires a school that advertises licensure preparation to disclose, state by state, whether the program meets educational requirements for a license, and to notify you when the answer is no or undetermined.

Then ask the Utah questions. Will the program recommend you once you pass its own exam requirements? Does it leave you eligible for a license in its own state, which the upgrade expects? Is a school counseling master's accredited by CACREP or another regionally recognized accreditor, which the board will not verify for you?

Which License Do Utah Principals and School Counselors Need?

Utah principals and school counselors each need a master's degree and a Professional Educator License. For a principal, rule R277-305 requires a master's or more advanced degree plus either a passed leadership assessment with a recommendation from an approved program or a valid NASDTEC Stage 2 leadership license, and the board names seven Utah universities with approved school leadership programs.

A school counselor who studied out of state, online included, needs a master's in school counseling from a CACREP or other regionally accredited institution and a Stage 2 or higher counseling license from outside Utah. The Associate Educator License then lasts up to three years, in which the College and Career Readiness Certificate Program must be finished. A degree aimed at LPC or LCSW licenses does not qualify, so compare school counseling programs on that basis.