Pennsylvania’s Act 48 requirements ask every holder of a Pennsylvania public school certificate to complete 180 hours of approved professional development, six collegiate credits, six continuing professional education (CPE) credits, or an equivalent combination during each five-year compliance period. Miss the deadline without an approved extension and your certificate goes inactive, which disqualifies you from professional employment in any Pennsylvania public school until you make up the shortfall.
Who the Requirement Applies To
Act 48 follows the certificate, not the job. If you hold a Pennsylvania public school certificate — Instructional, Educational Specialist, Administrative, Supervisory, a Letter of Eligibility, or a vocational certificate — the five-year cycle applies to you whether or not you are currently teaching.1Pennsylvania Department of Education. Act 48 and PERMS
Charter school educators are covered on the same terms as district teachers, because charter schools fall within the state’s definition of a public school entity.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. General Act 48 FAQ
Private and non-public school teachers are a different case. Pennsylvania does not require an active public school certificate to teach in a private school, so if you work only in a private school, Act 48 is not something the state forces on you. If you want to keep your public school certificate active for future use, though, the clock keeps running and you still need to meet the requirement.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. General Act 48 FAQ
The Four Ways to Meet the 180-Hour Standard
You have four routes to satisfy Act 48 in each five-year period:3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 24 PS Education 12-1205.2
- Six semester credits of collegiate study from an accredited institution.
- Six credits of PDE-approved continuing professional education courses.
- 180 hours of professional development through a PDE-approved provider.
- Any combination of the above that adds up to the equivalent of 180 hours.
The conversion is straightforward. One semester collegiate credit equals 30 Act 48 hours. One quarter credit equals 20 hours.4Pennsylvania Department of Education. Options to Earn Act 48 FAQ Six semester credits at 30 hours each hits 180 exactly, which is why the collegiate and hour-based paths are treated as equivalents. CPE credits follow the same math. If it is easier to fit three collegiate credits and 90 workshop hours into your schedule than either route alone, that combination meets the standard.
How the Five-Year Clock Runs
Your compliance period is personal, not universal. Educators certified before July 1, 2000, had their first cycle begin on that date. Anyone certified on or after July 1, 2000, starts the five-year clock the day their initial state certificate was issued.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 24 PS Education 12-1205.2 The cycle then renews automatically at the end of each five-year window as long as you have completed the hours.
Two teachers hired the same day into the same school can have entirely different deadlines because their certificates were issued in different years. That mismatch is where most compliance trouble begins. If you assume your cycle tracks the school calendar, you may already be past due. Look up your dates in PERMS and set a reminder well before the end date.
Carrying Excess Hours Forward
You can bank a limited amount of extra work. Up to 50 hours earned in the final two years of your compliance period carry forward into the next cycle.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. General Act 48 FAQ Hours earned earlier in the cycle, however many you piled up, do not carry over. The rollover also does not apply between non-consecutive compliance periods.
What Counts and Who Can Provide It
Only hours and credits from sources the Pennsylvania Department of Education recognizes count toward Act 48. That narrows the field.
Collegiate Courses
Coursework must come from an institution listed in the U.S. Department of Education’s Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs, and it must relate to your area of assignment or certification — content area, instructional methods, classroom management, assessment, or student health and safety.4Pennsylvania Department of Education. Options to Earn Act 48 FAQ Accredited community colleges qualify along with four-year universities. Credits earned outside Pennsylvania count when the same accreditation standard is met, and you record them by having an official transcript sent directly from the institution to PDE.
Districts, Intermediate Units, and Approved Providers
School districts and intermediate units are automatically approved Act 48 providers based on the continuing professional education plans they file with PDE.4Pennsylvania Department of Education. Options to Earn Act 48 FAQ Most in-service days and regional workshops fall in this category.
Other organizations can offer Act 48 hours only when PDE has approved them. A searchable list of approved providers lives on the PERMS website. Confirm the provider’s current approval before you enroll in any non-collegiate program; otherwise the hours will not post.
Free Courses Through SAS
The Standards Aligned System Professional Development Center offers free Act 48 courses. These self-paced online modules cover topics such as eLearning strategies and generally award five hours each.5Pennsylvania Department of Education. SAS PD Center Act 48 Opportunity For anyone watching costs, these free modules can steadily reduce the 180-hour total.
Mentoring Credit
If your school approves it, mentoring a first-year teacher or supervising a student teacher earns Act 48 hours. The cap is 15 hours per inductee or student teacher, up to 45 hours in a single compliance period.6Pennsylvania Department of Education. Educator Induction Plan Guidelines
Tracking Your Hours in PERMS
The Professional Education Record Management System is the state’s official ledger for Act 48. Log in at perms.pa.gov with your Professional Personnel ID (PPID); the site has a lookup tool if you do not know yours.7Pennsylvania Department of Education. Professional Education Record Management System Once inside, you can see recorded hours, the providers who submitted them, and the exact date your current cycle ends.
Providers upload the hours, but verifying them is on you. If hours do not show up after a reasonable processing window, contact the provider. Checking PERMS once a semester heads off end-of-cycle surprises and confirms that specific activities were actually recorded as Act 48 credit rather than some other category of professional development that will not count.
Extensions for Extenuating Circumstances
PDE can grant an extension when something genuinely stops you from finishing on time. You must apply during the final year of your current compliance period and before the end date passes; late requests are denied.8Pennsylvania Department of Education. Extension Info for Continuing Professional Education Under Act 45 and Act 48 The request goes in through the Teacher Information Management System (TIMS), with supporting documents emailed separately to the Act 48 applications inbox.
The recognized categories are:
- Active-duty military service, for a period equal to the active duty, supported by orders, discharge papers (DD214), and separation documentation.
- A personal medical condition, up to 12 months, with documentation from a licensed health care professional.
- Caregiving as the primary caregiver for a relative with a medical condition or impairment, up to 12 months, on the same medical documentation standard.
- Financial hardship from job loss, up to 12 months, with a showing that you could not use the free SAS PD Center courses.
- Other verifiable circumstances that prevented compliance, up to 12 months.
The financial hardship route has a built-in test. PDE will look at whether the free SAS courses were realistically available to you; if they were, the extension is harder to justify. Assemble your documentation carefully before applying.8Pennsylvania Department of Education. Extension Info for Continuing Professional Education Under Act 45 and Act 48
If Your Certificate Goes Inactive
Missing the deadline without an extension does not revoke your certificate. It becomes inactive, which is a different status. While inactive, you cannot be employed as a professional or temporary professional employee in any Pennsylvania public school entity, and a district currently employing you cannot keep you in a professional position.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. General Act 48 FAQ
Substitute work is not entirely off the table. Pennsylvania allows educators with inactive certificates to substitute teach for up to 180 days per school year, consistent with the endorsement on their certificate or letter of eligibility.9Pennsylvania Department of Education. Substitute Teaching in Pennsylvania Individual districts can set stricter policies through their school boards, including requiring that all substitutes hold active certificates, so confirm with the district before assuming you qualify.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. General Act 48 FAQ
Getting Back to Active Status
Reinstatement is a matter of completing the hours you were short at the end of the last cycle and having them recorded through an approved provider. Once the remaining hours post in PERMS, the system returns your certificate to active status overnight.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. General Act 48 FAQ Your five-year cycle keeps running while the certificate is inactive, so the faster you close the gap, the more of the current period you preserve.