Utah Teacher Certification Renewal
Utah renews teacher licenses online through USIMS, not by mail. Professional Educator License holders complete 100 renewal hours every five years with no application fee. Associate Educator Licenses can no longer be renewed, only extended. Expired licenses renew the same way, with no penalty, at any time.
Utah teachers renew their licenses online, and the process looks different from it did a few years ago. The state phased out its old points-based renewal system by June 30, 2025, and every renewal now runs through USIMS, the Utah Schools Information Management System. What you need to do next depends on which license you hold: Professional, Associate, or LEA-Specific. This page covers renewing a license you already hold in Utah — if you’re licensed in another state and considering a move here, see our guide to Utah teacher license reciprocity instead.
Teaching Certification Renewal
Utah issues three types of educator licenses, and each one renews differently. Renewal windows run from January 1 to June 29 of the license’s expiration year, and there’s no early renewal. If a license lapses before you renew, it can still be renewed later with no penalty, so a missed deadline isn’t an emergency.
Professional Educator License (PEL) Renewal
The Professional Educator License is valid for five years. To renew, you need 100 renewal hours completed during those five years, an Educator Ethics Review, and ongoing background monitoring through the Utah State Board of Education (USBE). There’s no fee for renewal.
Renewal hours come from four categories: professional learning experiences like coursework, conferences, and workshops (90 hours maximum), educator collaboration activities (30 hours maximum), professional service (50 hours maximum), and alternate learning opportunities such as substitute teaching or professional presentations (50 hours maximum). Educators who receive a “highly effective” evaluation earn 10 hours automatically each year.
If you’ve worked continuously in a Utah public school, charter school, or district for the past five years, you may not need to complete the renewal form or get an administrator’s signature at all. USBE offers a short online tool to check whether the form applies to you. Everyone else completes the Professional Educator License Renewal Form, gets it signed by a licensed administrator or charter school director, and keeps it on file for 12 months in case of a monitoring review. The renewal itself is finalized through USIMS, and it can take up to 24 hours for a completed renewal to show up in the system.
Associate Educator License (AEL): Extension, Not Renewal
This is the detail that trips up a lot of Associate License holders: as of June 10, 2024, the Associate Educator License can no longer be renewed. Instead, educators who are still employed in a Utah public or accredited private school can request a one-time extension of up to two years using the Associate Educator License Extension Form, submitted through the SM Apply extension application. That extension buys time to finish the requirements for a Professional Educator License, not an indefinite path to stay on an Associate License.
LEA-Specific License Renewal
An LEA-Specific License is tied to a single school district or charter school and can be renewed as long as the license area isn’t special education or a related service. Instead of going through USBE directly, the local education agency’s human resources department reports the renewal electronically through CACTUS after July 15 of the new school year. Educators must document at least 60 hours of renewal activity across at least two categories, plus a current Educator Ethics Review within the last 12 months and a cleared USBE background check completed after July 1, 2015 that remains active in the FBI Rapback network.
If you run into trouble at any point in the renewal process, USBE’s Licensing Team can be reached directly at [email protected].
Renewing an Expired Utah Teaching License
An expired Utah educator license isn’t a separate problem to solve. Professional and LEA-Specific licenses that have lapsed renew through the exact same process described above, at any time, with no late fee and no penalty for letting the renewal window pass. There’s no separate “reinstatement” application to track down for an ordinary expired license. If your license lapsed years ago and you’re unsure whether this process still applies to your situation, our full guide to Utah teaching certification lays out every current licensure path.
The one license this doesn’t apply to is the Associate Educator License. Since it can no longer be renewed at all, an expired AEL can’t be brought back through this process either. Educators in that position need to complete the requirements for a Professional Educator License or discuss options with their employing school district.
A different process entirely applies to licenses that were suspended or revoked for disciplinary reasons rather than simply expired. Reinstating a suspended or revoked license goes through the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission (UPPAC), and it involves a formal hearing where the educator has to show compliance with whatever conditions the original discipline set out. That process is unrelated to a routine expired-license renewal and is handled case by case through UPPAC, not through the standard USIMS renewal steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do Utah teaching licenses need to be renewed?
A Professional Educator License renews every five years. An Associate Educator License is valid for three years but can no longer be renewed, only extended once for up to two years. An LEA-Specific License term runs one to three years, depending on the requesting district.
Is there a fee to renew a Utah teaching license?
No. Utah does not charge a renewal fee for the Professional Educator License, Associate Educator License extension, or LEA-Specific License.
Can I renew my Associate Educator License?
No, not as of June 10, 2024. Associate Educator Licenses can only be extended once, for up to two years, while you complete the requirements for a Professional Educator License.
What happens if my Utah teaching license has already expired?
Professional and LEA-Specific licenses can be renewed at any time after they expire, with no penalty, through the same USIMS process used for an on-time renewal. Only a license that was suspended or revoked for disciplinary reasons requires the separate UPPAC reinstatement hearing process.
How many renewal hours does a Professional Educator License require?
100 renewal hours completed within the five years prior to the license’s expiration date, spread across professional learning, educator collaboration, professional service, and alternate learning opportunities.
- Renewal happens online, not by mail. Every Utah educator license renews through USIMS, and there’s no application fee for any license type.
- Associate Licenses can only be extended. Since June 2024, the AEL can’t be renewed, only extended once for up to two years while working toward a Professional Educator License.
- Expired doesn’t mean penalized. Professional and LEA-Specific licenses renew the same way, whether they’re current or already expired, with no late fee.
- 100 hours drives Professional License renewal. Hours are spread across four categories, with 10 hours awarded automatically for a “highly effective” evaluation each year.
- Disciplinary reinstatement is a different process. A suspended or revoked license goes through a formal UPPAC hearing, not the standard renewal steps.
Working toward a Professional Educator License upgrade or considering a new licensure area? Explore accredited teacher certification programs to find the right next step.
