Understanding Your GA Certificate

The print date is the date the certificate was printed and has no effect on the validity period or effective date.

The effective date of the certificate level indicates the earliest date that the corresponding certificate level is recognized. The effective date is subject to the date application materials are received for processing; the effective date may not be any earlier than the July 1 prior to the date the application package was complete.

The certificate validity date (validity period) is established for each individual field of certification and varies according to the conditions of issuance.

The level assigned to a certificate indicates the highest degree level recognized by the GaPSC which has been awarded to the certificate holder.

Level 1 –	(Selected Career, Technical and Agricultural Education fields only) completion of a high school diploma or the GED equivalent;
Level 2 –	(Selected Career, Technical and Agricultural Education fields only) completion of an associate's degree or one of the following options: 60 semester hours of acceptable college credit; A two-year program consisting of a minimum of 2,000 clock hours through a regionally accredited post-secondary vocational/technical school in the field in which certification is requested; or A minimum of 27 semester hours of acceptable college credit or university credit and a minimum of 1,000 clock hours through an accredited vocational/technical school in the field in which certification is requested.
Level 4 –	Completion of a bachelor’s degree or the GaPSC’s determined degree equivalent;
Level 5 –	Completion of a master’s degree or the GaPSC’s determined degree equivalent;
Level 6 –	Completion of an education specialist's degree or the GaPSC’s determined degree equivalent; OR completion of a minimum of thirty-six (36) semester hours of coursework required for a level seven doctoral degree and successful completion of the oral and/or written comprehensive examinations or the institution’s determined equivalent;
Level 7 –	Completion of a Ph.D. or Ed.D degree or the GaPSC’s determined equivalent.

For further clarification regarding certification levels assigned to various degrees and majors, please see this chart and Certification Rule 505-2-.02.

Certificate codes are designated by specific letters which identify particular types and titles of certificates.

AIDE	Non-Instructional Aide
AP	Advanced Professional
B	Provisional
C	Clearance Certificate
D	Life
EI	Educational Interpreter License
I1	One-Year Induction
I3	Three-Year Induction
I5	Five-Year Induction
J	Adjunct
L	Leadership
LP	Lead Professional
N	Non-Renewable
N1	1-Year Non-Renewable
N3	3-Year Non-Renewable
NP	Non-Renewable Performance-Based
P	Permit
PARA	Paraprofessional License
PR	Performance-Based Professional
PR2	Performance-Based Educational Leadership – Tier II
PS	Pre-Service
R	Retired
S	Service
SR	Standard Professional
T	Teaching
W	Waiver
X	International Exchange

Georgia offers certification in a variety of fields with specific subjects or grade levels assigned to each field. Teaching fields consist of Elementary Education (P-5), Middle Grades (4-8), Secondary Education (6-12), CTAE and P-12 Fields (Art, Foreign Language, Music, Special Education, etc.) Service fields and Leadership fields allow the educator to serve at all grade levels (P-12). In addition to full certification fields, endorsements to certificates are offered in teaching, service, and leadership areas.

Questions about your certificate should be directed to your employer’s personnel officer or to the Professional Standards Commission. If there appears to be an error on your certificate, please return it within forty-five (45) days with a letter of explanation. An incorrectly issued certificate may be recalled.