In-State Preparation Program Applicants
Additional resources
Licensure Hours
Monday:
1:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Tuesday – Friday:
8:30AM – 3:30PM
In-State Educator Preparation Applicants
Entitlement Process
The entitlement process starts as soon as you enroll in an approved Illinois educator preparation program. Your university will enter the license information according to your program with a “pre-completion of program” status. Your license will remain in the “pre-completion of program” status until you have completed all program requirements including student teaching and licensure testing.
After you have completed all of the program requirements, your university will change the status from “pre-completion of program” to “completed program.” Once the status has been updated to “completed program,” you will need to login into your Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS) account to apply for your Professional Educator License (PEL) and register your PEL in Region 07-South Cook.
If you have been issued an entitlement, you will see the following screen:
After you have applied for the Entitled Credentials and your PEL has been issued, you will need to return to your ELIS Home page to register your new license. Click the “Registrations” link located in the Action Center to begin the registration process.
Additional Information
- It is critical that you do not apply for a PEL before your university has completed your entitlement. If you apply for your PEL before your university completes your entitlement, it will prevent them from being able to do so and will significantly delay the application process.
- There will be a $100 application fee when you apply for your credential and a separate $60 registration fee after you apply.
- Your license will be issued instantly and will be valid for employment as soon as both the application and registration fees have been paid in full.
- Special Note: If you do not register your license, it will lapse and will be subject to reinstatement penalties even if it has only recently been issued.
Frequently asked questions:
A: If you completed an Educator Preparation Program under a previous set of requirements, but did not obtain a license at that time, you may apply for a PEL provided your university is willing to complete and submit an Illinois Institution of Higher Education Approved Program Verification.
You will need to fulfill all of the current licensure requirements and cannot be grandfathered under any prior set of requirements.
A: Provisional licenses are only available to individuals who are enrolled in an Illinois state-approved alternative licensure program and are issued only by university entitlement.
A: Please contact your University’s Licensure Officer to see if their is a process in place to expedite your entitlement. ROE/ISC offices are unable to process rush requests for entitled licenses.
A:Employment is handled by individual districts, applications can be found on their district website.
