Renew a South Carolina Professional certificate with 120 renewal credits in five years. Which routes are open to you depends on whether a district employs you.
An educator who has advanced to a Professional certificate must earn 120 renewal credits during the certificate's five-year validity period. The certificate is valid for five school years and expires on June 30 of the expiration year.
How you may earn those credits depends on who employs you, and this is the part worth knowing before you plan. Every educator, regardless of employment, may use Options 1 to 3 of the SCDE Renewal Credit Matrix: college coursework, certificate renewal courses approved by SCDE, and CEUs approved by SCDE.
Educators employed by a South Carolina public school district or a participating renewal entity get Options 4 to 11 as well - professional publications, instructional activities such as teaching a college course, professional trainings, serving as an assessor or evaluator, mentorship, supervision or instructional coaching, educational projects, collaborations, grants or research, professional development activities, and professional development CEU credits.
College coursework, certificate renewal courses approved by SCDE, and Continuing Education Units approved by SCDE. These are the routes available whether or not a district employs you.
Professional publications; instructional activities such as teaching a college course; professional trainings; serving as a professional assessor or evaluator; mentorship, supervision or instructional coaching; educational projects, collaborations, grants or research; professional development activities such as conferences, workshops and task forces; and professional development CEU credits.
As part of the 120 credits, an educator may also need to meet Read to Succeed endorsement requirements, which are established in state statute rather than left to the matrix.
Also part of the credits, and also set in statute: the suicide awareness training requirements of the Jason Flatt Act.
The submission route splits the same way the options do, and sending it to the wrong place is a delay rather than a rejection, but a delay against a June 30 expiry is expensive.
Regulation 43-55: credit will not be allowed for a renewal activity that is repeated unless the activity has received prior approval in writing from the teacher certification office. Prior, and in writing. Discovering this after the second workshop is too late.
An educator is eligible to renew an expired Professional certificate up to ten school years past the expiration date. South Carolina is more forgiving here than most states, though the conditions tighten the longer it has lapsed.
In EX in Education, the renewal credits you track in South Carolina sit beside new-hire onboarding, walkthroughs, coaching cycles, goals, evaluations, staff surveys and recognition. Leaders see how every educator is doing from their first week onward, not only whether they are current, and the renewal record builds out of the growth work already happening.
Start a conversation about South CarolinaOptions 1 to 3 if you are not employed by a district or participating renewal entity. Options 1 to 11 if you are. That decision shapes everything else, because the expanded options are where most day-to-day professional work counts.
The certificate is valid for five school years and expires on June 30. Credits must be earned during that validity period.
Read to Succeed endorsement requirements and Jason Flatt Act suicide awareness training may both apply, and both sit inside the 120 rather than on top.
Through your employer if a district or participating renewal entity employs you; through My SC Educator Portal to the SCDE Office of Educator Services if not.
One hundred and twenty renewal credits during the Professional certificate's five-year validity period. The certificate is valid for five school years and expires on June 30 of the expiration year.
No. Every educator may use Options 1 to 3 of the SCDE Renewal Credit Matrix: college coursework, SCDE-approved certificate renewal courses, and SCDE-approved CEUs. Educators employed by a South Carolina public school district or a participating renewal entity may also use Options 4 to 11, which cover publications, instructional activities, professional trainings, assessor or evaluator service, mentorship, supervision or instructional coaching, educational projects and research, professional development activities, and professional development CEU credits.
Not without permission first. Regulation 43-55 states that credit will not be allowed for a renewal activity that is repeated unless the activity has received prior approval in writing from the teacher certification office.
An educator is eligible to renew an expired Professional certificate up to ten school years past the expiration date. The requirements tighten with time: a credential expired less than five years may be extended a year, one expired five to ten years needs district sponsorship, and beyond ten years the route is reapplication or reciprocity.
Yes. SCDE describes both as requirements an educator may need to meet as part of those credits, established in state statute rather than by the Renewal Credit Matrix.
Yes. Select South Carolina and the system tracks toward 120 credits across the five-year period and records which matrix option each activity falls under, which matters because the options available to you change if your employment does. Mentorship, instructional coaching and evaluator service all count for district-employed educators, and those are records the platform already holds.
Not in South Carolina? Find requirements for your state.
Evaluated in South Carolina? See how South Carolina teacher evaluation works, and how the evidence connects to the record you keep for renewal.
Part of EX in Education
Renewal Credit 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.