Licensure Information

CMHC Alumni who have met their respective state’s requirement for licensure (varies from state to state) will need to send a course verification form (typically a form generated by the state’s board) to the UTC Counselor Education Program Director at the program’s address:

UTC Counselor Education Program
615 McCallie Ave
Dept. 2242
Chattanooga, TN 37403

The Program Director will complete the form as verification that a student has successfully completed their practicum/internship experiences, obtain notarization of the document (as required by the state) and mail the document to the appropriate Licensure Board. Forms will not be returned to alumni.

The Certification Officer (CO) is in charge of submitting your application for licensure for School Counselor PreK-12 (487) to the TN Office of Education Licensure. Your License application will be submitted to the State Office of Teacher License as soon as she has all the required materials:

Information Sheet for Licensure:  information sheet and return to the Certification Officer. You may complete electronically, fax, mail, or drop it off.

Please print out and complete the attached personal affirmation. 

A clear emailed scan or dropped-off or mailed hard copy is acceptable. This is the information that I will use to enter into the State system, so please: 

• Write legibly 
• Use the name that will be on your UTC transcript
• Use an email that you check regularly. This is how the State will communicate with you.

Praxis scores for the Professional School Counselor test (5421): The CO will have these so long as you selected UTC as a score recipient.

Scores are available 10-15 business days after the close of the testing window. Please register for this test EARLY. If you take this test toward the beginning of the testing window, it can be close to a month before you get your scores. 

You will be contacted by email when your scores are available. You will have access to download a pdf of your score report…this is your OFFICIAL score report. Please make sure you save and keep in a safe place. ETS and UTC purge these results after 9 years, and it is a common occurrence for individuals to contact the CO after that time because the score report is needed but was misplaced.

If you test in TN, then your scores will automatically be sent to the State. If you test outside of TN, then you MUST select that the State of TN Dept. of Education (8190) receive your scores. Please check your score report to make sure that your score was sent to both TN Department of Education (8190) and UTC (1831). Please let the CO know if either of these score recipients are missing.

Official Transcripts from ALL institutions attended:

UTC Transcripts can be requested using the Transcript Request Form. THIS IS NOT AUTOMATIC- you must request that your transcripts are sent. Make sure you request that the transcript be sent at the DEGREE AWARDED. The transcript must show that your degree was conferred. UTC transcripts will be sent to the CO’s office during the week after graduation. 

The CO must have official transcripts from ALL institutions attended. If the transcript was sent to UTC Admissions, then they can use that version. If there are any transcripts that were not sent to UTC at time of admission, the CO will need for you to request them to be sent to her.

If the institution uses an electronic transcript service, like Clearinghouse, I can receive the official, electronic pdf version via their email: [email protected]. If only paper copies are available to be sent, they will need an official paper copy mailed directly to the address below. 

Make sure that all transcripts from other institutions are sent to the Certification Officer, specifically at this address…not just UTC because they will not make it to the office.

• School of Education- UTC
• 615 McCallie Avenue
• Chattanooga, TN 37403

Make sure that you do not have any holds on your account before you request a UTC transcript. Your request will not be processed if you have holds.

Once the CO has all of your materials, they will upload your license application information into TN Compass: https://tdoe.tncompass.org. When the application is uploaded, you will need to log in and complete a Personal Affirmation transaction. They will email you when this is needed, so please check your UTC email often for updates. The CO will try to get your applications sent before the other, larger institutions in the state so that the processing time is as fast as possible, but typically the processing takes 2-3 weeks.

In order to check on your license and the status of your application, visit: https://www.tn.gov/education/licensing.html

You will see the Now processing applications received the week of:  ________(The CO will try to send the week after degree conferral)

This should give you an idea of when you should expect to see your license information appear on the website. This office is extremely busy, so please contact the CO first with your question or issue.  

Please make sure that you retain your Praxis Score report. The pdf document that was provided to you electronically by ETS is YOUR official copy. Make copies and save in multiple locations!

It is recommended that you request a few official copies of your transcript to be sent to yourself as well. Many times, when applying for jobs, you need to submit copies.

The CO will send a letter of completion on your behalf if you are being considered for a position. Please contact the CO if you need one completed and she will let you know what information is needed.

To search licenses, you can search the public TN Compass site: https://tdoe.tncompass.org/public

Getting licensed in another state? 

First, you will need your initial TN license. Then Google: “(State name) Office of Teacher Licensure.” Each state has very different requirements. They will all want to see a copy of your initial license, some might want official transcripts, and some might want test scores. 

If you know that you are moving soon after graduation, look up information now! You might be required to take an additional test of complete other requirements before you are able to be hired. Often times, the CO will need to complete a form with the institutional seal showing that you did complete the program. Please submit these requests as soon as possible if you know that you are moving out of state. 

Questions? Please email: [email protected]  (Please include your program, licensure status, and UTC ID in all correspondence)

• The UTC PSC program does not have a dedicated job embedded track of study. However in the following circumstances a paid internship can be considered:
  • If you are currently employed at a school site with a supervisor that is qualified and willing to fulfill the responsibilities of supervision
  • If a school district requests for UTC PSC students enrolled in Internship to apply for paid positions
  • Approval by the Program Director
• Hold an advanced degree in school counseling from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Have completed an educator preparation program in school counseling approved by a state other than Tennessee as evidenced by one (1) of the following:
  • a valid professional level license from a state other than Tennessee; or
  • a recommendation.