If you’re an Indiana teacher trying to figure out what actually counts toward your license renewal, here’s the short answer: graduate credits from a regionally accredited institution are one of the fastest ways to satisfy the Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE) requirement — and they’re the only renewal path that also raises your pay. Six graduate credit hours convert directly into Indiana’s PGP point system at a fixed rate, covering your entire renewal in one move instead of years of workshops and in-service hours. Here’s what counts, how the conversion works, and how to make sure the credits you earn do double duty on your renewal and your salary schedule. 
IDOE’s conversion rate is straightforward: 1 semester credit hour equals 15 PGP points. Since a standard renewal requires 90 PGP points, that means 6 graduate credit hours completes the entire renewal requirement — typically two 3-credit graduate courses.
Compare the math: reaching 90 points through district workshops alone means roughly 90 hours of seat time, usually spread across an entire renewal cycle. Two online graduate courses gets you there in a single semester — and unlike workshop hours, graduate credits don’t expire or need re-justifying if IDOE updates its approved-activity list. This is the part most Indiana teachers miss. The same six graduate credits that satisfy your PGP renewal requirement can also move you to a higher lane on your district’s salary schedule. Indiana districts place teachers on salary grids using lanes like BA, BA+15, MA, and MA+15 or MA+30 — and graduate credits are exactly what moves you from one lane to the next. Depending on your district and how many credits push you into a new lane, that can mean an increase of roughly $1,000 to $5,000 or more per year, permanently, for the rest of your career in that district — on top of simply staying licensed. Teachers who treat renewal credits and salary-advancement credits as two separate projects are usually earning the same coursework twice; teachers who plan them together get both outcomes from one set of courses. The catch is that lane changes aren’t automatic. Once you complete your graduate coursework, you need to submit official transcripts to your district’s HR or payroll office and formally request the lane change — most districts process these at the start of the school year, so timing your course completion around that deadline matters.
Do Graduate Credits Count for Indiana Teacher License Renewal?
Yes. Indiana’s standard license renewal (Proficient Practitioner, 5-year license, or Accomplished Practitioner, 10-year license) can be completed through IDOE’s Professional Growth Plan (PGP) framework, and graduate coursework from a regionally accredited college or university is explicitly accepted toward it. You don’t need a full master’s degree — standalone graduate credits, taken one course at a time, count the same as credits earned inside a degree program, as long as the institution is regionally accredited and the coursework is graduate-level. That matters because most Indiana teachers don’t realize there are two very different ways to hit the 90-point PGP requirement: piecing together district workshops, conferences, and committee hours one point at a time, or knocking out the entire requirement with a single semester of coursework. Note: Indiana licenses graduate credits by the semester hour, not by seat time. A 3-credit graduate course from an accredited university is worth the same PGP value whether it’s taken online, in summer, or across a full semester — location and format don’t change the conversion.
How Graduate Credits Convert to PGP Points
IDOE’s conversion rate is straightforward: 1 semester credit hour equals 15 PGP points. Since a standard renewal requires 90 PGP points, that means 6 graduate credit hours completes the entire renewal requirement — typically two 3-credit graduate courses. | Renewal Activity | How It’s Counted | Points Toward 90 Required |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate coursework | 1 semester credit hour = 15 PGP points | Most Efficient |
| District workshop / in-service | 1 contact hour = 1 PGP point | Slower |
| State or national conference | 6–8 points per day, pre-approval required | Variable |
What Kind of Graduate Credits Qualify
To count toward your Indiana renewal, graduate coursework needs to meet three conditions:- It must come from a regionally accredited college or university (not a district-run workshop or an uncredentialed online provider)
- It must be graduate-level coursework — 500-level or above, or otherwise designated as graduate credit by the issuing institution
- It should be reasonably related to your teaching assignment, certification area, or general instructional practice — IDOE gives latitude here, but content unrelated to education is more likely to draw questions
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Build My Roadmap →The Double Benefit: Renewal and a Raise from the Same Credits
This is the part most Indiana teachers miss. The same six graduate credits that satisfy your PGP renewal requirement can also move you to a higher lane on your district’s salary schedule. Indiana districts place teachers on salary grids using lanes like BA, BA+15, MA, and MA+15 or MA+30 — and graduate credits are exactly what moves you from one lane to the next. Depending on your district and how many credits push you into a new lane, that can mean an increase of roughly $1,000 to $5,000 or more per year, permanently, for the rest of your career in that district — on top of simply staying licensed. Teachers who treat renewal credits and salary-advancement credits as two separate projects are usually earning the same coursework twice; teachers who plan them together get both outcomes from one set of courses. The catch is that lane changes aren’t automatic. Once you complete your graduate coursework, you need to submit official transcripts to your district’s HR or payroll office and formally request the lane change — most districts process these at the start of the school year, so timing your course completion around that deadline matters. How to Submit Graduate Credits for Renewal
- Confirm the institution offering your graduate course is regionally accredited
- Complete the coursework and request an official transcript once grades post
- Log into LVIS (Licensing Verification and Information System) at lvis.doe.in.gov and submit your transcript under the PGP renewal pathway
- Separately, submit the same transcript to your district’s HR/payroll office to request a salary lane change
Graduate Courses for Indiana Teachers
Earn Renewal Credit and a Raise at the Same Time
Credits for Teachers offers regionally accredited graduate courses built for busy Indiana teachers — designed to satisfy your PGP renewal requirement and move you up a salary lane, without a two-year degree commitment.
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