Massachusetts Teacher Certification for International Graduates

Foreign Degrees Are Accepted — With Evaluation

Massachusetts does not reject international teaching candidates outright. If you earned your degree outside the United States, you can pursue state licensure through the same pathways as domestic candidates — but you'll need a formal credential evaluation first.

The evaluation must be course-by-course (not just document-by-document) and must confirm that your degree is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree or higher. A general equivalency statement isn't sufficient. DESE needs to see that the coursework and degree level map to American standards.

DESE-Approved Evaluation Agencies

You can't use just any credential evaluation service. Massachusetts accepts evaluations from two categories of agencies:

NACES member agencies — Any agency that belongs to the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services is accepted. Major ones include World Education Services (WES), Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), and Foundation for International Services (FIS).

DESE-approved non-NACES agencies — Four specific agencies outside of NACES are also accepted:

• Center for Educational Documentation (CED) — Austin, TX
• Evaluation Services, Inc. (ESI) — Chicago, IL
• Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI) — Beverly Hills, CA / Liberty Hill, TX
• Atlas Credential Evaluations — Darien, CT

Using an unapproved agency means your evaluation won't be accepted, and you'll need to pay for a second one. Verify the agency is on the list before you order.

The C&L Waiver for International Candidates

If your evaluated degree is at the master's or doctoral level and the evaluation confirms that English was the sole language of instruction, you qualify for the Communication and Literacy Skills waiver — the same $0 waiver available to domestic candidates with advanced degrees.

There's an additional angle for international candidates: if you hold a teaching license comparable to a Massachusetts Initial or Professional license from another U.S. state or territory, you may qualify under the out-of-state equivalent criterion. A home-country credential follows the Route Three process for educators prepared outside the United States; confirm the applicable review with DESE.

If you're applying for the waiver based on language of instruction, your evaluation agency must explicitly confirm that English was the sole language of instruction for your degree program. This is a specific line item you need to request when ordering the evaluation — it's not included in a standard report.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Order a course-by-course credential evaluation from a DESE-approved agency. Request the English-language-of-instruction verification if you plan to use the C&L waiver. Processing takes 4–8 weeks depending on the agency and your home country's transcript turnaround.

2. Create your ELAR account and obtain your MEPID (Massachusetts Education Personnel ID).

3. Determine your license pathway:

   • If you hold a comparable educator license from another U.S. state or territory and have 3+ years of employment under it, you may qualify for a Temporary License through reciprocity.
   • If you have a non-education bachelor's or master's, the Provisional License pathway is typically the best route.
   • If you were prepared outside the United States, Route Three requires a Panel Review under DESE guidelines before the Initial License review.

4. Meet required assessment requirements — Complete the subject-matter test or other assessment/review required for your teaching field. The C&L test is required unless you qualify for the waiver.

5. Submit your application in ELAR — Upload your credential evaluation, transcripts, test scores, and any out-of-state teaching credentials. Pay the $100 application fee.

6. Clear background checks — Once hired by a district, you'll complete a CORI check and SAFIS fingerprinting ($55).

Common Pitfalls

Transcript delays: Some countries have slow or bureaucratic transcript release processes. Start the evaluation order early — it's the longest lead-time item in your application.

Name mismatches: If your name appears differently on your passport, transcripts, and degree certificate (common with transliteration from non-Latin scripts), resolve this before submitting to ELAR. The name on your ELAR profile must match your government-issued ID exactly, and Pearson/ETS won't transmit test scores if names don't align.

Physical mail requirement: If DESE requires an Out-of-State Approved Program Verification Form for a U.S. out-of-state program, this must be mailed as a physical hard copy to DESE's Everett office at 135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149. Digital scans are not accepted for this form.

The Massachusetts Teacher Certification Guide includes the full credential evaluation checklist and agency comparison to help you avoid these delays.

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