Checked 15 Nov 2026 by the team. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
Kentucky substitute teacher requirements changed on 8 November 2024. Under 16 KAR 2:030, the one-year emergency certificate for substitute teaching needs only a high school diploma or equivalency and a district job offer. The five-year certificate needs a bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution, and its holders get hiring priority over emergency substitutes.
Under 16 KAR 2:030, a one-year emergency certificate for substitute teaching needs a high school diploma or equivalency and a Kentucky district job offer, while the five-year certificate needs a bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution.
The rule asks for No college credit for the one-year emergency certificate; a bachelor's degree for the five-year certificate. The legal source is 16 KAR 2:030.
| Certificate | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| One-year emergency (substitute) | High school diploma or equivalency; district job offer | [1] |
| Five-year (substitute) | Bachelor's degree, regionally or nationally accredited institution | [1] |
| Ten-year (substitute) | Eligible for, or holding, a teaching certificate | [1] |
| Emergency teaching (vacancy) | Bachelor's degree with 2.5 GPA, or 2.75 on the last 30 hours | [2] |
| Hiring priority | Certified teachers, then ten-year, then five-year, then one-year emergency | [1] |
Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), Kentucky Department of Education; the hiring school district applies decides how this rule applies to you. We read its published rule and the pages below; each was checked on 15 Nov 2026.
Each course below is ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended for college credit. Whether it counts here is the decision of the college and of Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), Kentucky Department of Education; the hiring school district applies.
General education that almost every bachelor's degree needs; NCCRS-recommended.
Self-paced online English Composition 1 course (ENG 101). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
A common maths requirement in bachelor's degrees.
Self-paced online College Algebra course (Math 111). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Social science general education, useful in a classroom.
Self-paced online Introduction to Psychology course (Psychology 110). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Directly about learning and teaching; an elective many education degrees use.
Self-paced online Educational Psychology course (Psychology 120). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Humanities or social science general education.
Self-paced online US History 1 course (HIST 101). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Social science general education.
Self-paced online Introduction to Sociology course (Sociology 110). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →TESU and UoPeople are partner colleges that consider ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended credit; the EPSB reads the bachelor's degree from that college transcript.
ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
| Option | Price | For this rule | Price checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPI Study PRO | $99 a month, every course | $99 for each month you are subscribed; take as many courses as you finish in that time | 15 Nov 2026 |
| KCTCS (Kentucky resident) | $198 per credit hour plus $8 mandatory fee | 30 credits: $6,180 | 15 Nov 2026 |
The one-year emergency certificate needs no college credit at all. Cost only matters if you are working toward the bachelor's degree for the five-year certificate; the degree college's own tuition and fees are extra.
UPI Study is not a college and is not accredited. ACE and NCCRS review our courses and recommend credit; a college decides whether to give that credit and records it on its own transcript.
Ask your degree college in writing which courses it will count, and ask the district or EPSB about your certificate before you rely on a plan.
Kentucky rewrote its substitute teacher rule, 16 KAR 2:030, with effect from 8 November 2024. It now sets three certificates for substitute teaching. The one-year emergency certificate needs a high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma. The five-year certificate needs a bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution. The ten-year certificate is for people who hold, held or are eligible for a teaching certificate.
Many older guides still describe a 64-semester-hour rule for emergency substitutes. The current regulation does not ask for college credit at the one-year level, so check the date on any guide you read.
The superintendent and board of a local district decide when they need emergency substitutes. The district reviews your qualifications and transcripts, verifies to the EPSB that you hold a high school diploma or equivalency, and the application includes a verified offer of employment in a Kentucky district. You cannot apply for it on your own without a job offer.
The certificate is valid for one year, so plan on the district renewing the process each year you substitute on it.
16 KAR 2:030 sets the order in which districts pick substitutes when a teacher is absent:
College credit helps only as a step toward the bachelor's degree behind the five-year certificate. That is also the degree the emergency teaching certificate under 16 KAR 2:120 asks for if a district needs you in a vacant full-time post, with a 2.5 GPA or a 2.75 on your last 30 hours.
UPI Study courses carry ACE or NCCRS credit recommendations and count toward a degree only via a college transcript. TESU and UoPeople are partner colleges that consider ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended credit. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Ask your degree college in writing which courses it will count before you start.
Get a job offer from a Kentucky school district. With a high school diploma or equivalency, the district applies to the EPSB for a one-year emergency certificate for substitute teaching. With a bachelor's degree, you can get the five-year certificate instead, which ranks higher when districts call.
Not for the one-year emergency certificate. Since 8 November 2024, 16 KAR 2:030 asks only for a high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma and a district job offer. The five-year certificate needs a full bachelor's degree.
Older guides describe a 64-semester-hour rule for emergency substitutes. The current regulation, 16 KAR 2:030 effective 8 November 2024, asks for a high school diploma or equivalency for the one-year emergency certificate. Check the date on any guide you read.
One year. 16 KAR 2:030 calls it the one (1) year emergency certificate for substitute teaching. The five-year certificate, which needs a bachelor's degree, lasts five years and can be renewed through the EPSB.
A bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited postsecondary institution, in any subject. You send the EPSB an official transcript from the college that granted the degree. The certificate is issued at Rank IV.
Certified teachers come first, then ten-year substitute certificate holders, then five-year holders, and last, one-year emergency substitutes. The order is set in Section 4 of 16 KAR 2:030 for filling a teacher's temporary absence.
Working toward the bachelor's degree for the five-year certificate? Take general education courses your degree college has agreed to count.