Pennsylvania Act 48: Requirements, Hours & PERMS Reporting

What is Act 48, and who has to comply?

Act 48 is Pennsylvania’s educator continuing-education law, passed in 1999 and effective July 1, 2000. It requires every holder of a Pennsylvania public-school certificate to complete ongoing professional development to keep that certificate active. That includes Instructional I and II, Educational Specialist I and II, Administrative, Supervisory, Letters of Eligibility, and all vocational certificates — whether you’re currently employed or not. Certified and non-certified teachers and administrators at charter schools are covered too. If you hold a Pennsylvania certificate, Act 48 applies to you.

How many Act 48 hours do I need, and how often?

You need 180 hours of professional development every five years. You can meet that requirement with six college credits, six PDE-approved continuing professional education (CPE) credits, 180 hours of approved CPE programs, or any combination of the three. The conversion is simple: one credit equals 30 Act 48 hours. So a single 3-credit graduate course counts as 90 hours, and a non-credit course completion typically counts for 45 hours. Put another way: two 3-credit graduate courses — or four non-credit courses — cover an entire five-year cycle.

How do I check my Act 48 status and when my cycle ends?

Your five-year compliance period begins on the effective date of your initial Instructional certificate, and it renews for another five years each time you meet the requirement. You can check your progress anytime in PERMS — the Professional Education Record Management System — using your Professional Personnel ID (PPID). About 12 months before your period ends, PDE sends a notice listing any hours you still need, with another notice at the end of the period. Those go to the contact information PDE has on file, so keep your name and address current in TIMS (the Teacher Information Management System) to be sure you receive them.

How do Act 48 hours get reported to the state?

Act 48 hours are reported directly into PERMS — you don’t mail anything in for approved-provider coursework. When you finish a course with a PDE-approved Act 48 provider, the provider uploads your hours straight into your PERMS record (PDE asks providers to submit within 30 days of completion). College credit works a little differently: for graduate credit earned at an out-of-state university, PDE only accepts an official e-transcript sent directly by the institution to the Act 48 Office at ra-edact48etrscrpt@pa.gov — a transcript you forward yourself won’t be accepted. In-state Pennsylvania college credit is uploaded to PERMS by that college’s registrar.

What happens if I don’t meet Act 48 by my deadline?

If you don’t complete your 180 hours by the end of your five-year period, your certificate moves to inactive status. An inactive certificate doesn’t disappear — you can still work as a substitute for up to 180 days per school year, though individual districts can choose to require active certificates even for subs. To reactivate, you complete the 180 hours for that period, and the system automatically returns your certificate to active status with a new five-year period assigned. If you receive a notice of inactive status and believe it’s in error, you can appeal — appeals are due within 30 days of the notice date.

Can I earn Act 48 hours with online, self-paced courses?

Yes. Act 48 hours can be earned through any PDE-approved provider, and that includes fully online, self-paced courses — no in-person attendance, no live sessions. You’ll generally see two routes: non-credit continuing professional education, where a single course completion counts for 45 Act 48 hours, and graduate credit, where a 3-credit course counts for 90 Act 48 hours and also gives you an official university transcript. Which route you choose depends on whether you just need Act 48 hours or also want graduate credit for salary-lane purposes.

What’s the difference between Act 48 and Act 45?

Act 48 and Act 45 are two different Pennsylvania laws, and they’re easy to mix up. Act 48 (1999) is the one that applies to all certified educators — the 180-hours-every-five-years requirement described on this page. Act 45 (2007), also called PIL (the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership program), applies specifically to educators serving as certified school and system leaders — principals, superintendents, and similar administrative roles — who have their own separate 180-hour requirement to maintain an administrative certificate. If you’re a classroom teacher, Act 48 is the one that applies to you.

Will these credits count toward a master’s, or move me up a salary lane?

Here’s the honest breakdown. On salary lanes: yes, graduate credits commonly help Pennsylvania teachers move across the lanes (columns) of their district’s salary schedule, and you don’t need a finished master’s degree to start — individual graduate credits can move you across a lane as soon as your district recognizes them. The key caveat is that Pennsylvania salary schedules are set by each district’s collective bargaining agreement, not by the state, so which credits count and which lanes they unlock vary district to district. Always confirm with your district’s HR or business office before you enroll.

On a master’s degree: these are graduate-level professional-development credits, not degree-program credits. They’re built for certificate renewal, Act 48 compliance, and salary-lane steps, and they do not stack into a master’s degree at UMass Global or CSU Pueblo. If a specific lane in your district requires holding a conferred master’s degree, these credits alone won’t satisfy it. When your goal is Act 48 hours plus district salary-lane movement, they’re a strong fit; when your goal is an actual master’s degree, they’re not the path.