Announcements

Effective July 1, 2023, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners will become part of the Iowa Department of Education. This change is being made as part of a broader state government realignment to bring together entities working with similar subject matter. Iowans can expect the same quality services they have come to expect from the BOEE while benefiting from strengthened connections and coordination between programs that support Iowa’s education system.

Please contact the Iowa Department of Education at ed.comms@iowa.gov with any questions about the alignment.

Beginning July 1, 2023, HF 672 will eliminate renewal credit requirements for licensed educators who have completed a master’s degree or higher and have at least 10 years of licensed experience in education.

Requirements for eligibility:

• Completed a master’s degree or higher.
• Served at least 10 years in education
  • Any PK-12 education experience in which a BoEE license is required
  • Can also include out of state or out of country education experience
  • Education experience does not need to be after the higher degree has been earned
• Requirements at the time of application for renewal:
  • Valid Mandatory Reporter for Child Abuse and Dependent Adult Abuse certificates.
  • Verification of degree. (official transcripts from college/university).
  • Verification of 10 years or more of education (letters on school letterhead from current/previous school districts)
  • Administrators and evaluators will also need to include verification of Evaluator Training less than 10 years old.

See our Background Check Page for information on utilizing Fieldprint to complete the federal portion of the background checks for first time licensees.

June, July, and August are definitely our busiest times of the year for applications.
Because of this and to help you plan ahead for your licensing needs, we ask that you keep the following
in mind:

• Over 10,000 applications are received during the summer months.
• Plan ahead! Applications take 4-6 weeks to process in the summer, so be sure to submit your application at least 4 weeks in advance of the date needed.
• Make sure your application was submitted. If it was, the ‘status’ of the application should state “Pending Internal Review.” Any other status means the application has not been submitted.
• Once your application has been submitted, please allow us time to complete our work. Each call and email you send to check the status will slow down the processing time. The BoEE staff needs time to evaluate and process each application.
• BoEE staff phones (except main line) will not be answered until 9 am Monday through Friday to allow time for processing applications.
• For login issues or to change the email on your BoEE account, please call our main number 515-281-3245.
• First-time applicants are required to submit fingerprints as part of the application process, even if you had your federal background check done for other states or other purposes. Your application cannot be issued until your state and federal background checks have been cleared.

Pursuant to Executive Order 10, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners will be reviewing its existing Administrative Rules by December 31, 2024. More information about Executive Order 10 is available on the Department of Management’s website.