Licensure Alignment FAQs
Ohio educators who have multiple five-year professional licenses expiring at different times may align their licenses to take on the same effective year. As a license expires and you are ready to renew it, you may align it to another valid five-year professional license.
Aligning your licenses means you are changing the effective year of one or more currently expiring licenses to match the effective year of a previously issued, active, standard teaching license. Once your licenses are aligned, they will all have the same expiration date. This will allow you to renew all of them at the same time, which will reduce your licensure costs and allow you to use the same professional development to renew all your professional licenses.
Back to Top
How Do I Align My Licenses?
Please complete the online application through your OH|ID account. You will need to select the action to ALIGN your currently expiring license(s) to a previously issued (active) standard teaching license. You will then need to select the license to which you are aligning in the application. Please note that the option to align is not available for all license types (e.g. supplemental, substitute, etc.)
Example: Your five-year professional principal license expires in June of this year. You also have an Intervention Specialist license that expires next June. When you are ready to renew your principal license, select the action ALIGN (not Renew) to begin the align application. You will then select your Intervention Specialist license as the license you are aligning your principal license to in this application. The system will automatically change the effective year of your principal license to match the effective year of your previously issued Intervention Specialist license. Now both licenses will expire next June, and the professional development (e.g., CEUs or coursework) you completed after the issue date of the Intervention Specialist license may be used to renew both your principal and Intervention Specialist license next year. Please note that you must meet the renewal requirements for a currently expiring professional license at the time you align (and renew) your licenses. Please see our renewal webpage for more information.
Back to Top
When Can I Align My Licenses?
You may align your licenses only when one of them is up for renewal. You may not align until the expiration year of one of your licenses.
Back to Top
What Requirements Do I Need to Meet to Align My Licenses?
You must meet the renewal requirements for a currently expiring professional license at the time you align your licenses. Please see our renewal webpage for more information.
Back to Top
I’m Applying for a New License. Can I Align It to My Previously Issued License?
The State Board of Education cannot backdate an initial license to align it with another license. Your new license will only align to your previously issued license if that license was issued with the same effective year. However, you will be able to align your licenses once one of them is up for renewal.
Example: You renewed your Early Childhood (P-3) license this year. You also completed requirements for a new Early Childhood Intervention Specialist (ECIS) license this year. When you complete the application for the new ECIS license, you may select the current school year as the effective year, which will align both your licenses.
Back to Top
How Much Will Aligning My Licenses Cost?
One professional license costs $200. Each additional license that is aligned to that license will cost only $20. Once your two professional licenses are aligned, you will pay the reduced cost of $220 at the next renewal date, rather than $400 (the cost of two professional licenses issued with different effective years).
Example: Your Integrated Language Arts (7-12) license expires in June of this year. You want to align it to your Library/Media (P-12) license, which expires next June. The system will charge you only $20 now to align your Integrated Language Arts license to your Library/Media license during the online application process. Then when you complete the application to RENEW your licenses next year, you will pay only $220 for both.
Please note that you will be charged the full amount for each license that is not aligned to another license during the renewal application process. Please see our licensure fees webpage for more information regarding licensure fees.
Back to Top
Do I Need to Align My Licenses Every Renewal Period?
Once you align your licenses, they will keep the same effective year going forward. At the next renewal period you will select the action to RENEW (not Align) during the online application process. You will still pay only $200 for the first professional license and $20 for each additional license.
Back to Top
Application Instructions
Related Links
Last Modified: 11/28/2023 1:01:34 PM