Act 48 And

Credit Courses at  IUP

 What you need to know.

In an effort to continue to meet your professional education certification needs, the Registrar’s Office serves as a reporting agency for credit course work completed here at IUP.

The submission of credit course work is easy, fast, and required by law.

Here are a few things that you should know.

On November 23, 1999, Gov. Tom Ridge signed into effect a bill referred to as Act 48.  Signed as House Bill 8, this law requires anyone maintaining an active Pennsylvania professional educator certificate to participate in furthering their education through continued course work.   This law applies to all PA educators holding PA public school certification, including Instructional I and II, Education Specialist I and II, Administrative, Supervisory, Letters of Eligibility and all vocational certificates.

All professional educators must obtain six credits of college study; six credits of continuing professional education courses; 180 hours (6/6/180) of continuing professional education programs, activities or professional experiences; or any combination of credits or hours equivalent to 180 hours every five years to maintain active status.  One credit equals 30 hours of professional experience.

Each professional educator has 5 years to  complete and submit the required course work to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).  The initial deadline for those who were already certified when the law came into affect is June 30, 2005.

Course work completed for a master’s degree program or Level II certification can be submitted to PDE for Act 48 requirements as well.  Act 48 does not eliminate Level II certification.

IUP serves as a reporting agency for credit courses completed at our university.  Only courses that a professional requests are submitted to PDE for Act 48 use.

I have taken a credit course at IUP and I want it submitted to PDE for Act 48.  What do I do?

IUP has two methods available to request course submission.  One is via the web using your student ID number or your “Banner ID”.  This method is the quickest and requires no added paperwork on your part.   Submitting course work can be initiated from the www.iup.edu/ursa page.

The second method is using a two part form that you can obtain through the Registrar’s Office at IUP.  This form should be mailed to the Registrar’s Office in Clark Hall on the main campus. 

Both methods will serve as a formal request to have the indicated course work submitted electronically to PDE.

Once course work is submitted, you will receive a letter from IUP stating the course taken and its acceptance for Act 48 requirements.  You should keep this letter as part of your permanent professional certification records.

If you indicate that you are employed by a school district,  that school district will also receive a copy of your applied course work.

Turn around time for submission to the Registrars Office and then to PDE is approximately  two weeks.  You may  go to the PDE site to check on courses submitted at any time.  Refer to the PDE site, http://www.pde.state.pa.us for specific instructions to log in and to view PDE records.

IUP maintains copies of all information submitted to PDE.  If you have any questions that relate to submitted course work you should contact the Registrar’s Office.

All information for this brochure was taken from PDE documentation.  For further information or clarification, please refer to the PDE web site or contact PDE directly.

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