Don't Delay! Apply for 2025 Certificate Renewal Early

Educators who need to renew their certificate in 2025 may want to complete their application early to avoid processing delays with the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE).

Each year, the NDE sends certificate renewal reminders to thousands of Nebraska educators. The teaching certificate is valid for teaching in all Nebraska school systems and must be renewed every five years. Certificates expire on August 31 each year. Backlogs at the department in recent years have sent members to NSEA for help to get answers about the process. In 2024, the department hired additional staff to help manage certificate renewals. This year, the department is encouraging certificated teachers who will need to renew in 2025 to apply between the months of January and March.

“This will help with the processing time for their certificates and not put them in a bind if they wait until it gets closer to August when our office has many new grads that are working through the system,” said NDE Director of Educator Certification, Katelyn Larson.

Teachers who are unsure if their certificate expires this year can log in to the Nebraska TEACH portal and check the expiration date: teach.education.ne.gov/#/verifylicense.

To renew, log on to: teach.education.ne.gov/#/ and start an application. The application can be found at the top of the account portal.