Renew a Professional Educator License with 120 clock hours of professional development per five-year cycle, recorded in ELIS.
Illinois teachers and school support personnel must complete 120 clock hours of professional development during each five-year renewal cycle. The requirement does not change with the number or type of degrees you hold.
Administrators are on a different rule, and it is the one most often missed. Administrators and chief school business officials complete 100 clock hours per five-year cycle plus one Illinois Administrators' Academy course every year. Teacher leaders whose duties are at least 50% administrative follow the same pattern. Career and technical educators are back at 120 hours.
Hours only count once they are recorded in ELIS. ISBE's renewal link does not even appear in your Action Center until the professional development is entered, and a license lapses if the requirements are not completed and recorded. Administrators' Academy courses are entered by the provider rather than by you.
Courses from regionally accredited institutions or Illinois community colleges.
Conferences, workshops, institutes, seminars and symposia organized by approved entities.
Required annually for administrators, chief school business officials and teacher leaders with 50% or more administrative duties. Entered into ELIS by the provider.
Recognized toward the professional development requirement, alongside activities from approved Illinois providers.
The renewal link will not appear in your ELIS Action Center until all applicable professional development hours are entered. A license lapses if the requirements are not completed and recorded in time.
ISBE gives two reinstatement routes, and you choose between coursework and a fee.
An educator who returns partway through a cycle completes professional development on a prorated basis depending on the number of years in the cycle the license was active, with a minimum of 24 hours per year at 50% or more employment.
Teachers and school support personnel: 120 clock hours. Administrators, chief school business officials and teacher leaders with 50%+ administrative duties: 100 clock hours plus one Administrators' Academy course each year.
The five-year cycle runs from July 1 following issuance through June 30 five years later, and every five years after that.
Enter your professional development hours in the Educator Licensure Information System. Administrators' Academy courses are entered by the provider.
Renew in the final year of the cycle and pay the registration fee - $50 per five-year cycle for a PEL.
120 clock hours of professional development activities during each five-year renewal cycle, regardless of the number or type of degrees held.
No. Administrators and chief school business officials complete 100 clock hours per five-year cycle plus one Illinois Administrators' Academy course each year. Teacher leaders whose duties are at least 50% administrative follow the same rule. Career and technical educators complete 120 clock hours.
ELIS is the Educator Licensure Information System. Professional development only counts once it is recorded there, and the renewal link does not appear in your Action Center until your applicable hours are entered.
In the final year of your cycle. For the 2026 cycle, renewal opens April 1, 2026 and must be completed on or before June 30, 2026.
You have two reinstatement options: complete nine semester hours of coursework in one or more endorsement areas on your license within the last five fiscal years, or pay a $50 penalty fee in place of that coursework.
Yes. Select Illinois and the system tracks progress toward 120 hours - or 100 plus the annual Academy course if you are an administrator - and keeps the evidence you need when entering hours in ELIS.
Not in Illinois? Find requirements for your state.
Evaluated in Illinois? See how Illinois teacher evaluation works, and how the evidence connects to the record you keep for renewal.
Part of EX in Education
PD Hour tracking is one part of how districts support educators. In EX in Education, it connects to the bigger picture: walkthroughs, coaching, evaluations, goals, PD, recognition, surveys, and retention. Bring your own process, or start from a template, then run it across every school so every educator moves from hired to thriving.