Verify Accreditation of a College or University
Ó£»¨ÊÓÆµ Department of Education (NJDOE) certification regulations require that college credits are shown on the transcript of an accredited institution of higher education.
“Accreditation” and “accredited” mean a status attained by an institution through voluntarily meeting standards for academic degree programs and/or college credit-bearing courses set by a nongovernmental entity recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Individuals seeking Ó£»¨ÊÓÆµ educator certification or substitute credentials that require college credits must submit transcripts from an accredited institution of higher education. If a college or university has been accredited by one of these , then credits from their transcripts can be evaluated for certification purposes.
Please note, per below, that accreditation does not provide automatic acceptance of course credits.
Limitations on Accepting Credits:
- All certification titles have specific degree and content/subject requirements that must be met, regardless of which accredited institution an individual has attended.
- Some certification titles require that an individual complete a particular program that is specifically approved by the NJDOE. These include alternate route certificates for Teacher of Students with Disabilities, English as a Second Language, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, and School Library Media Specialist.
- A graduating cumulative grade point average (GPA) cannot be improved by taking just any post-graduation courses at the same institution, nor does the NJDOE recalculate a graduating GPA by considering courses from institutions other than the one(s) from which an individual graduated.
Please refer to Certificate Subject Area/Grade Level and Codes for details on specific certification requirements.