Alternative Teacher Certification in North Dakota

North Dakota alternative certification requirements, step by step

Each requirement below is stated as North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board (ESPB) publishes it, with the governing source cited.

1. 1

   Hold a bachelor's degree in the content area of the vacancy

   The Alternate Access License is for applicants who have a bachelor's degree in the content to be taught but do not have a teaching degree. Official transcripts must document that content degree. ESPB also uses a one-year Alternate Access License when a North Dakota education-program completer has a job offer but still needs to pass Praxis.

   Source: nd.gov

2. 2

   Have the school document an unsuccessful search

   The local administrator must request the license in writing and describe the unsuccessful search: administrator and district, applicant name and content area, how long and where the job was posted, applications received and interviews held, and incentives used. This is a shortage-area, school-requested license, not a candidate self-application.

   Source: nd.gov

3. 3

   File a college plan of study that finishes one-third each year

   Submit a plan of study from the college of education showing the applicant will complete one-third of the remaining program each year toward the teaching degree. ESPB expects education coursework to be finished over a maximum of three years when needed.

   Source: nd.gov

4. 4

   Apply in ND Teach and pay the Alternate Access fee

   Complete the online application, upload transcripts, the administrator letter, and the plan of study. ESPB lists the Alternate Access License at $165. The license is issued one year at a time for a maximum of three years.

   Source: nd.gov

5. 5

   Convert to a regular license after program and testing requirements

   During the three-year window, complete the education coursework and required Praxis assessments, including Core and Praxis II/PLT as applicable, plus mandated-reporter training if the next license is an initial license. American Board completers use a separate Initial Alternate Pathway License ($85) rather than Alternate Access.

   Source: nd.gov

Alternate Access is a district-controlled shortage tool, not an open alternate-certification enrollment. ESPB will not create the license because a career changer wants to try teaching; the administrator letter must prove a real search failed. That letter is specific: posting length and format, applicant counts, interviews, and incentives. Candidates who arrive with only a bachelor's transcript and a verbal job offer do not have a complete file. The same license type is reused for a very different person—the ND program completer who has a contract but cannot yet pass Praxis—so two people on Alternate Access may be solving opposite problems.

The three-year, one-third-per-year plan is a pacing rule with no fourth year. ESPB says the license can be issued a year at a time for a maximum of three years and that the applicant will complete one-third of the program of study each year. Falling behind the plan is how an Alternate Access teacher becomes unemployable in year four without a regular license. Colleges that write vague 'intends to enroll' letters instead of a sequenced plan create that cliff. Treat the plan of study as the actual license condition.

Testing still decides the exit. Alternate Access delays Praxis; it does not erase it. Completers who used the license only to retake Praxis have a one-year clock. Degree-holders building a teaching major have three years to finish both coursework and the Core plus Praxis II/PLT stack, including the published Core cuts. Mandated-reporter training attaches when the next credential is an initial license. There is no ESPB language that a third Alternate Access year converts automatically if scores are missing.

American Board is a different alternate door with different money and term. ESPB lists an Initial Alternate Pathway License — American Board at $85 for two years and $65 to renew two years, separate from the $165 Alternate Access fee. Applicants should not file Alternate Access if they already completed American Board for North Dakota; the system will expect the American Board application type. Conversely, a content-degree shortage hire who has never touched American Board cannot use that cheaper two-year code to skip the school-request and plan-of-study rules.

Required exams and fees

North Dakota uses ETS Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators, Praxis II content assessments, and Principles of Learning and Teaching. Fees and cut scores appear only when published by the cited source (as of September 2026).

Moving a license to North Dakota

Alternate Access is a North Dakota shortage license requested by a local school, not a reciprocal alternate credential. Out-of-state alternate-program completers who already hold a valid license still complete North Dakota Praxis I and II for their content areas before ESPB will issue an OSEL, according to ESPB license FAQs. Unlicensed out-of-state program completers use the Out-of-State Reciprocal License instead.

Official North Dakota reciprocity guidance