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The Teachers College

Professional Requirements

Apply for Your Initial License

An Initial License is the first license issued by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE). This license is issued for teaching, school specialist, and school leadership.

Please make sure you have passed the required Praxis or School Leaders Assessment for Kansas with ESU as a score recipient before contacting the ESU Licensure Officer about the application. You may always inquire about the process, but your license application will not be submitted to KSDE by ESU until your passing score has been received at ESU.

Please note:

  • The Initial License is a two-year license. If you are an ESU student, you will apply for this license through the ESU Licensure Officer.
  • You do not automatically receive a license from KSDE by completing your degree program.
  • Your transcript sent to KSDE when you apply to renew a license is not enough to gain any new license or endorsement.
  • You must apply for the license through your institution. ESU students/graduate students will complete this process through the ESU Licensure Officer (620-341-5412).

At the end of your teacher education program...

...you will receive instructions about how to apply for your Kansas license. For detailed information,

The online license application comes through ESU for the appropriate verifications before it can be submitted on to KSDE by ESU.

It may take time to provide these verifications at ESU depending on the time of year you apply and when the verifications can be made.

Elementary education students: Your passing Praxis scores are required to be received from ETS to receive a recommendation for licensure from ESU as a program completer and to receive the BSE degree from ESU.

Secondary education content majors: You can receive a BSE degree without passing the Praxis tests, however you are not a program completer without passing scores for your Praxis tests. This means an Initial License recommendation by ESU is not made until ESU has received passing scores for your Praxis tests. This includes a passing score for the PLT, too.

If you are a student at another Kansas institution, you will work through your Kansas institution's licensure officer.

If you are a student at an institution outside the state of Kansas, you will work through your institution's licensure officer or with KSDE to apply for a Kansas license.

At the end of your school specialist or school leadership program, you must...

This will not be an added endorsement to your Professional License, but a separate license, the Initial School Specialist License or the Initial School Leadership License. The online license application comes through ESU for the appropriate verifications before it can be submitted on to KSDE by ESU.

It may take time to provide these verifications at ESU depending on the time of year you apply and when the verifications can be made. Your Praxis or School Licensure Assessment official score report must have been received at ESU directly from ETS before the verification on your license application can be made.

If you have questions about whether your score has been received at ESU, look at your score report under the Score Recipient Box for Emporia State University to be listed. If ESU is not listed there, contact the ESU Licensure Officer (620-341-5412) for help in how to have your score received at ESU.

If you are in another state, you will need to contact your state for help in how to apply for these to be on your state's license.

At the end of your Direct Entry (formerly Parallel Pathways) School Counselor or School Psychologist program, you must...

The online license application comes through ESU for the appropriate verifications before it can be submitted on to KSDE by ESU. It may take time to provide these verifications at ESU depending on the time of year you apply and when the verifications can be made.

Your Praxis or School Licensure Assessment official score report must have been received at ESU directly from ETS before the verification on your license application can be made. If you have questions about whether your score has been received at ESU, look at your score report under the Score Recipient Box for Emporia State University to be listed. If ESU is not listed there, contact the ESU Licensure Officer (620-341-5412) for help in how to have your score received at ESU.

If you are in another state, you will need to contact your state for help in how to apply for these to be on your state's license.