Provisional Certificates may be available through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for students who have been enrolled in an approved Teacher Education or School Counseling Program at a college or university and are within twelve hours of completing all certification requirements (including student teaching and/or completion of the Missouri Content Assessment exam). The two-year provisional certificate is non-renewable. Provisional certification is not an option for current students in the UMKC Teacher Education programs through the Division of Teacher Education & Curriculum Studies.

According to DESE, to be eligible for provisional certification, you must:

• for Teacher Certification: Have a bachelor’s degree and/or be within 12 hours of completing a teacher certification program
• for School Counseling: Complete CPCE 5502, 5504, 5505, 5520, 5530, and EDRP 5510 or 5512 or 5513
• Have a minimum 2.75 grade point average (GPA) on all coursework
• Have a job offer from a Missouri school district

Here are the steps to apply for a Provisional Certificate:

1. Start by going to: http://www.dese.mo.gov/. (Make sure to have pop-up blockers turned off to access the website.)
2. In the middle of the page select “Web Applications“.
3. Enter your DESE User Name and Password and select “Login“. If you have not established your DESE Profile you need to do that first.
4. Under the heading “Office of Educator Quality“, select “Educator Certification System“.
5. Select the third triangle for “3) New Applications“.
6. Select “Provisional Cert“.
7. Answer all four of the Professional Conduct questions. If you indicate “Yes” for any of the questions, you are then required to type comments in the box below that question before continuing.
8. Under “Purpose of Application“, you MUST select “Provisional Certificate with an Academic Contract between District, Institution and Educator“. You will then select your school district and your institution from the drop-down boxes. You district is the school district that has hired you. Your institution is always University of Missouri, Kansas City.
   • Once you select the University of Missouri, Kansas City you will get a drop-down box to indicate your subject area/grade level. Select the program that you are currently pursuing for certification at UMKC.
9. Read the sworn statement, release of educational information, and select the “I accept” box.
10. Select “Submit and Pay“.
11. You will then be required to pay the $50.00 fee for this certificate.

Once you have completed the steps above, your application will be routed to your school district. They will complete the school district information and then submit it to UMKC. Once received, the Certification Manager at UMKC will complete the academic contract section of the application and will submit it to DESE. You will then need to submit official transcripts from all colleges attended directly to DESE.