Out of State or Out of Country Applicants

If you completed an approved out-of-state educator preparation program and become licensed in that state, you can qualify for an Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL)  by submitting the following documents:

• A copy of your valid, comparable out-of-state license 
  • Your out-of-state license must be equivalent to an Illinois PEL; Illinois does not accept temporary, emergency, charter school, or other non-renewable licenses. 
• A bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution of higher education​
  • After you have created an account in the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS), an official transcript should be sent to licensure@s-cook.org.
  • Official transcripts must be delivered directly from the university and may not be forwarded by the student.

Please do not submit any documents before creating your ELIS account. 

• After you submit your documents, log into your ELIS account to apply for your PEL. 
• A $150 application fee will be assessed when you apply for your credentials with a separate $60 registration fee once your PEL is issued.
• Your license will be valid for employment as soon as both the application fee and the registration fee is 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. 

If you completed an approved out-of-state educator preparation program but did not become licensed in that state, you must meet the following requirements to obtain the Illinois PEL:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution of higher education
  • After you have created an account in the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS), an official transcript should be sent to licensure@s-cook.org.
• Proof of completion of a State Approved Program (Use form 80-02: State Approved Program and Completion of Standards Verification​)
  • You will need to meet any Illinois requirements that your university indicates were not included in your out-of-state program, which may include additional college course work and/or state licensure testing. 
  • Your university must submit this form directly to ISBE at licensureforms@isbe.net. 
• Student teaching or equivalent experience
• Completion of coursework addressing methods of teaching exceptional children, reading methods, content area reading, and methods of teaching English learners (Use form 80-02: State Approved Program and Completion of Standards Verification)
• Licensure Tests: All test scores are valid indefinitely. View the options below to see the required tests for each area. Click here to register for the tests. 

Please do not submit any documents before creating your ELIS account. 

• After you have submitted your documents, you should log into your ELIS account to apply for your PEL. 
• A $150 application fee will be assessed when you apply for your credential with a separate $60 registration fee once your PEL is issued.
• Your license will be valid for employment as soon as both the application fee registration fee is 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. 

Individuals who qualify using the ISBE 80-02 form will receive a PEL with the Illinois equivalent of the out-of-state program type listed on the 80-02 form. 

If you completed out of the country educator preparation program, you must complete the following requirements to obtain the Illinois PEL:

• You must have your foreign transcripts evaluated by any one of these ISBE approved transcript evaluation companies. Please request a “course by course” evaluation from one of these companies. 
  • The course-by-course evaluation must show that you hold the U.S. equivalent of at least a bachelor’s degree and must show that you have completed a program designed for the preparation of educators.
• Submit your evaluated transcripts to South Cook ISC; the evaluation must be mailed or emailed to our office directly from the evaluation company. Electronic evaluations should be sent to licensure@s-cook.org. 
  • Evaluations submitted by the applicant cannot be emailed; they must be submitted unopened in the original envelope from the evaluation company.

Please do not submit any documents before creating your ELIS account. 

• After you have submitted your documents, you will need to log into your ELIS account to apply for your PEL. 
• A $150 application fee will be assessed when you apply for your credentials with a separate $60 registration fee once your PEL is issued. 
• Your license will be valid for employment as soon as both the application fee and registration fee is 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. 

Individuals who are prepared as educators in another country will receive a PEL with the Illinois equivalent of the degree major listed on the evaluated transcript without having to complete additional college coursework or state licensure tests.